This image, taken by an astronaut aboard the International Space Station, shows the brilliant glow of major cities in western North America at night. The larger areas of bright yellow are lights from the U.S. cities of Portland and Seattle and the Canadian cities of Vancouver, Edmonton, and Calgary.
The bright circular feature near the center of the image is the Moon just beginning to rise above Earth’s limb. The space station’s orbit around Earth affords astronauts this phenomenal view multiple times a day. Cruising around the planet at about 28,000 kilometers per hour (17,500 miles per hour), the crew aboard the space station sees approximately 16 moonrises and moonsets within a 24-hour period.
Inclement weather in Seattle and Vancouver likely obscured the view of the Moon for observers on the ground. Cloud coverage and light pollution can also obstruct the nighttime view of stars, the aurora, and satellites. Viewed from above, the city lights under cloud cover appear blurred compared to the lights of Edmonton and Calgary. The darkness of the Pacific Ocean and the Cascade Range contrasts with the busy illuminated landscape.
The bright green aurora is the result of charged particles from the Sun interacting with gas molecules in Earth’s upper atmosphere. This spectacular light show is often best seen near Earth’s north and south poles, where the planet’s magnetic field draws in solar particles. During strong solar storms, the aurora may be seen from lower latitudes on dark, clear nights depending on the Sun’s level of activity and phenomena like solar flares and coronal mass ejections. The Sun entered the maximum phase of its current cycle in mid-2024, when auroras were observed from central Mexico. This phase is expected to continue through 2025.
Astronaut photograph ISS072-E-806482 was acquired on March 19, 2025, with a Nikon Z9 digital camera using a focal length of 28 millimeters. It is provided by the ISS Crew Earth Observations Facility and the Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit, Johnson Space Center. The image was taken by a member of the Expedition 72 crew. The image has been cropped and enhanced to improve contrast, and lens artifacts have been removed. The International Space Station Program supports the laboratory as part of the ISS National Lab to help astronauts take pictures of Earth that will be of the greatest value to scientists and the public, and to make those images freely available on the Internet. Additional images taken by astronauts and cosmonauts can be viewed at the NASA/JSC Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth. Caption by Samantha Jacob, Barrios, JETS II Contract at NASA-JSC.