This is what the Earth looks like at night. Can you find your favorite country or city ? Surprisingly, city lights make this task quite possible. Human-made lights highlight particularly developed or populated areas of the Earth's surface, including the seaboards of Europe , the eastern United States , and Japan . Many large cities are located near rivers or oceans so that they can exchange goods cheaply by boat. Particularly dark areas include the central parts of South America , Africa , Asia , and Australia . The above image is actually a composite of hundreds of pictures made by the orbiting DMSP satellites .
( Editor's note: Contrary to some recent press reports, this site does not have a rotating screensaver version of the above image. Also, unfortunately, we do not sell prints. However, a high-resolution digital version of the image is available ( click here or here ) and an Earth at Night poster similar to this image can be ordered ( click here ) from other web sites.