{"id":764658,"date":"2026-09-09T04:12:23","date_gmt":"2026-09-09T04:12:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/764658\/"},"modified":"2026-09-09T04:12:23","modified_gmt":"2026-09-09T04:12:23","slug":"astronauts-before-and-after-photos-show-how-cities-switched-from-orange-to-white-light","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/764658\/","title":{"rendered":"Astronaut\u2019s Before-and-After Photos Show How Cities Switched From Orange to White Light"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>      <img src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Miami-800x420.jpg\" alt=\"A side-by-side comparison of a city at night, showing the same area illuminated by warm, orange-toned sodium lights on the left and cooler, blue-toned LED lights on the right.\" width=\"800\" height=\"420\" class=\"size-large wp-image-872814\"   loading=\"eager\" fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"sync\"\/>Miami in 2012 lit by sodium vapor, left, and in 2025, lit by multi-colored LEDs. | Photos by Don Pettit \/ NASA <\/p>\n<p>Over the past 15 years, cities at night around the world have undergone a transformation: instead of being bathed in warm, orange sodium vapor light, they\u2019re now lit up by brighter, white LED lights. <\/p>\n<p>NASA astronaut and photographer Don Pettit, who has been living on and off at the International Space Station since 2002, has documented this transition and recently shared a series of photos that starkly demonstrate what that change looks like from space. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have spent 23 years documenting the global LED transition of city lighting from space,\u201d Pettit, who took some of the early photos on film cameras, <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/astro_Pettit\/status\/2096763479143469206\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"follow external noopener nofollow\" data-wpel-link=\"external\">writes on X<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cAcross my four missions to the ISS, I have photographed every major city on Earth, building a data set of the gradual replacement of sodium vapor lighting with LEDs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>  \t \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\u2039 \t\t\t \t\t\t \t\t\t\t\u203a \t\t\t \t\t \t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"snap-gallery__link snap-gallery__link--lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Chicago1.jpeg\" data-pp-lightbox=\"1\" data-pp-gallery=\"snap-1\" data-pp-index=\"0\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img width=\"1638\" height=\"1418\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Chicago1.jpeg\" class=\"attachment-medium_large size-medium_large\" alt=\"A satellite view of a brightly lit urban area at night, showing a dense grid of city lights along a dark coastline.\"   loading=\"lazy\" fetchpriority=\"low\" decoding=\"async\"\/>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a> \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"snap-gallery__link snap-gallery__link--lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Chicago2-scaled.jpeg\" data-pp-lightbox=\"1\" data-pp-gallery=\"snap-1\" data-pp-index=\"1\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img width=\"1707\" height=\"2560\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Chicago2-scaled.jpeg\" class=\"attachment-medium_large size-medium_large\" alt=\"An aerial night view of a brightly lit city grid along a dark coastline, with major roads and highways forming distinct patterns.\"   loading=\"lazy\" fetchpriority=\"low\" decoding=\"async\"\/>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a> \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t \t  \t\t\t \t \t\t\t \t   \t \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\u2039 \t\t\t \t\t\t \t\t\t\t\u203a \t\t\t \t\t \t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"snap-gallery__link snap-gallery__link--lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/MexicoCity2.jpeg\" data-pp-lightbox=\"1\" data-pp-gallery=\"snap-2\" data-pp-index=\"0\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img width=\"2005\" height=\"1941\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/MexicoCity2.jpeg\" class=\"attachment-medium_large size-medium_large\" alt=\"A satellite view of a brightly lit city at night, surrounded by smaller clusters of light against a dark background.\"   loading=\"lazy\" fetchpriority=\"low\" decoding=\"async\"\/>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a> \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"snap-gallery__link snap-gallery__link--lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/MexicoCity1-scaled.jpeg\" data-pp-lightbox=\"1\" data-pp-gallery=\"snap-2\" data-pp-index=\"1\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img width=\"2560\" height=\"2442\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/MexicoCity1-scaled.jpeg\" class=\"attachment-medium_large size-medium_large\" alt=\"A high-contrast, overhead view of a sprawling city at night, showing a dense grid of illuminated streets and buildings against a dark background.\"   loading=\"lazy\" fetchpriority=\"low\" decoding=\"async\"\/>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><br \/>\n   \t \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\u2039 \t\t\t \t\t\t \t\t\t\t\u203a \t\t\t \t\t \t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"snap-gallery__link snap-gallery__link--lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/SaoPaulo1.jpeg\" data-pp-lightbox=\"1\" data-pp-gallery=\"snap-3\" data-pp-index=\"0\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img width=\"1682\" height=\"1141\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/SaoPaulo1.jpeg\" class=\"attachment-medium_large size-medium_large\" alt=\"A nighttime aerial view of a sprawling city, showing a dense network of bright yellow and white street lights against a dark background.\"   loading=\"lazy\" fetchpriority=\"low\" decoding=\"async\"\/>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a> \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"snap-gallery__link snap-gallery__link--lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/SaoPaulo2-scaled.jpeg\" data-pp-lightbox=\"1\" data-pp-gallery=\"snap-3\" data-pp-index=\"1\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/SaoPaulo2-scaled.jpeg\" class=\"attachment-medium_large size-medium_large\" alt=\"An overhead night view of a sprawling, densely lit city grid surrounded by dark, unlit natural terrain.\"   loading=\"lazy\" fetchpriority=\"low\" decoding=\"async\"\/>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a> \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t \t  \t\t\t \t \t\t\t \t  <\/p>\n<p>Pettit explains that the \u201cwarmer, yellow-orange of gas discharge lamps has been phased out worldwide to multi-colored LEDs, citing energy savings and environmental reasons.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWidespread adoption has markedly changed the way our cities look from orbit, and as many have pointed out, how they feel to those on the ground,\u201d he adds. <\/p>\n<p>  \t \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\u2039 \t\t\t \t\t\t \t\t\t\t\u203a \t\t\t \t\t \t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"snap-gallery__link snap-gallery__link--lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Seoul1.jpeg\" data-pp-lightbox=\"1\" data-pp-gallery=\"snap-4\" data-pp-index=\"0\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img width=\"1064\" height=\"830\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Seoul1.jpeg\" class=\"attachment-medium_large size-medium_large\" alt=\"An aerial night view of a brightly lit city, showing a network of illuminated roads and buildings against a dark background.\"   loading=\"lazy\" fetchpriority=\"low\" decoding=\"async\"\/>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a> \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"snap-gallery__link snap-gallery__link--lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Seoul2-scaled.jpeg\" data-pp-lightbox=\"1\" data-pp-gallery=\"snap-4\" data-pp-index=\"1\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img width=\"2560\" height=\"1994\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Seoul2-scaled.jpeg\" class=\"attachment-medium_large size-medium_large\" alt=\"A satellite view of a brightly lit city at night, featuring a prominent river winding through the dense urban grid.\"   loading=\"lazy\" fetchpriority=\"low\" decoding=\"async\"\/>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a> \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t \t  \t\t\t \t \t\t\t \t   \t \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\u2039 \t\t\t \t\t\t \t\t\t\t\u203a \t\t\t \t\t \t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"snap-gallery__link snap-gallery__link--lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Vegas1.jpeg\" data-pp-lightbox=\"1\" data-pp-gallery=\"snap-5\" data-pp-index=\"0\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img width=\"1644\" height=\"1733\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Vegas1.jpeg\" class=\"attachment-medium_large size-medium_large\" alt=\"An aerial night view of a city grid illuminated by streetlights, showing a dense cluster of lights surrounded by darkness.\"   loading=\"lazy\" fetchpriority=\"low\" decoding=\"async\"\/>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a> \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"snap-gallery__link snap-gallery__link--lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Vegas2-scaled.jpeg\" data-pp-lightbox=\"1\" data-pp-gallery=\"snap-5\" data-pp-index=\"1\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img width=\"2079\" height=\"2560\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Vegas2-scaled.jpeg\" class=\"attachment-medium_large size-medium_large\" alt=\"An aerial night view of a city grid illuminated by streetlights and buildings, surrounded by dark, undeveloped land.\"   loading=\"lazy\" fetchpriority=\"low\" decoding=\"async\"\/>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a> \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t \t  \t\t\t \t \t\t\t \t   \t \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\u2039 \t\t\t \t\t\t \t\t\t\t\u203a \t\t\t \t\t \t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"snap-gallery__link snap-gallery__link--lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Monterrey1.jpeg\" data-pp-lightbox=\"1\" data-pp-gallery=\"snap-6\" data-pp-index=\"0\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img width=\"1926\" height=\"2386\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Monterrey1.jpeg\" class=\"attachment-medium_large size-medium_large\" alt=\"A satellite view of a city at night, showing a dense cluster of golden and white lights against a black background.\"   loading=\"lazy\" fetchpriority=\"low\" decoding=\"async\"\/>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a> \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"snap-gallery__link snap-gallery__link--lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Monterrey2-scaled.jpeg\" data-pp-lightbox=\"1\" data-pp-gallery=\"snap-6\" data-pp-index=\"1\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img width=\"1846\" height=\"2560\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Monterrey2-scaled.jpeg\" class=\"attachment-medium_large size-medium_large\" alt=\"A nighttime satellite view of a city\u2019s glowing street grid, featuring a distinct, elongated urban sprawl extending southward.\"   loading=\"lazy\" fetchpriority=\"low\" decoding=\"async\"\/>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a> \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t \t  \t\t\t \t \t\t\t \t  <\/p>\n<p>As Pettit\u2019s images show, these huge metropolitan areas have a very different nighttime glow in the 2020s; the only exception is Hong Kong (below), which shows the special administrative region maintaining its sodium vapor lighting, while nearby Shenzhen has burst into LED light. <\/p>\n<p>  \t \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\u2039 \t\t\t \t\t\t \t\t\t\t\u203a \t\t\t \t\t \t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"snap-gallery__link snap-gallery__link--lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Hong-Kong-and-Shenzhen2.jpeg\" data-pp-lightbox=\"1\" data-pp-gallery=\"snap-7\" data-pp-index=\"0\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img width=\"1670\" height=\"2173\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Hong-Kong-and-Shenzhen2.jpeg\" class=\"attachment-medium_large size-medium_large\" alt=\"A satellite view of a cluster of city lights at night, showing interconnected urban areas against a dark background.\"   loading=\"lazy\" fetchpriority=\"low\" decoding=\"async\"\/>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a> \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"snap-gallery__link snap-gallery__link--lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Hong-Kong-and-Shenzhen1-scaled.jpeg\" data-pp-lightbox=\"1\" data-pp-gallery=\"snap-7\" data-pp-index=\"1\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img width=\"2192\" height=\"2560\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Hong-Kong-and-Shenzhen1-scaled.jpeg\" class=\"attachment-medium_large size-medium_large\" alt=\"A satellite view of a coastline at night, showing bright clusters of city lights against a dark landscape and water.\"   loading=\"lazy\" fetchpriority=\"low\" decoding=\"async\"\/>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a> \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t \t  \t\t\t \t \t\t\t \t  <\/p>\n<p>The change from sodium-vapor streetlights to LEDs across the world was mainly driven by cost: LEDs are cheaper to run and easier to control. <\/p>\n<p>However, many photographers have lamented the loss of sodium vapor lights, believing the warmer sodium vapor lighting just looks better on camera. Drive, a 2011 film that was shot mostly at night on the streets of L.A., was <a href=\"https:\/\/petapixel.com\/2025\/11\/23\/drive-was-one-of-the-last-films-shot-in-la-before-led-street-lights-took-over\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">one of the last movies<\/a> shot under the orange-yellow hue. Had the film been shot any later, it would have lost much of its charm and atmosphere. <\/p>\n<p>Sodium lamps take time to warm up and reach full brightness, whereas LED lights turn on and off instantly. The LED lights initially brought to cities like L.A. had a color temperature of around 4,000K, leading to complaints from locals who said they were too clinical and reminded them of a hospital or prison. In L.A. and other cities, officials have warmed the LED lights to more like 3,000K. <\/p>\n<p> Affiliate Disclosure PetaPixel articles may include affiliate links; we may earn a commission if you buy through one. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Miami in 2012 lit by sodium vapor, left, and in 2025, lit by multi-colored LEDs. | Photos by&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":764659,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[59,90,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-764658","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-science","tag-gb","tag-science","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/764658","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=764658"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/764658\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/764659"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=764658"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=764658"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=764658"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}