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Earth at Night

August 9, 2005


Here’s a nice little addition to your My Places which shows what the earth looks like from space at night.
Astronomers see this picture as light pollution ruining our views of the heavens. Environmentalists see this as wasted energy. I have to agree with both. It wouldn’t take very much for us to start creating better lighting systems that light the ground, not the sky. But, still, this picture is pretty!

About Frank Taylor

Frank Taylor started the Google Earth Blog in July, 2005 shortly after Google Earth was first released. He has worked with 3D computer graphics and VR for many years and was very impressed with this exciting product. Frank completed a 5.5 year circumnavigation of the earth by sailboat in June 2015 which you can read about at Tahina Expedition, and is a licensed pilot, backpacker, diver, and photographer.

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PLEASE NOTE: Google Earth Blog is no longer writing regular posts. As a result, we are not accepting new comments or questions about Google Earth. If you have a question, use the official Google Earth and Maps Forums or the Google Earth Community Forums.

Comments

  1. Jim says

    August 17, 2005 at 4:32 pm

    Ah, so many ugly lights all over the planet…. Dark skies are hard to find these days, except, apparently, in the middle of South America.

  2. Paul Gilster says

    August 19, 2005 at 7:51 pm

    Light pollution is indeed a problem, but you’re right, Frank, it’s a beautiful sight from space.

  3. Marc says

    May 17, 2007 at 10:04 pm

    Ah I’ve never been a person to complain about light pollution. Canada looks like a very empty place though.

  4. Used Tissue says

    September 16, 2007 at 2:01 pm

    Yeah… I miss the stars here in London, the lights are so bright they block out all the stars except about 3

  5. Richard Caruana says

    November 12, 2007 at 5:58 pm

    Hi,
    I was wondering how do you use Google Earth to view the Night Lights on Earth ?
    Thanx
    Richard

  6. bahar says

    November 15, 2007 at 2:04 pm

    hi there
    i am researching about light pollution but steal i haven’t found a map like the one that you have for the day.could you plz help me????it’s been a long time that we are ruining the earth you knw.it’s to some extent awful.i feel like crying when i see that we are doing it easily.

  7. anonymous says

    October 30, 2008 at 12:18 pm

    How do i turn this off? I downloaded it but i cant get to regular Google Earth anymore.

  8. Jim says

    March 4, 2009 at 10:08 am

    How do you get it to work?

  9. Anonymous says

    March 12, 2009 at 4:13 pm

    I really want the light pollution map off, but I don’t no how to How can I turn it off?

  10. Joseph Eaton says

    April 6, 2009 at 3:34 pm

    How do I turn off earth at night?

  11. Bobisha says

    April 13, 2009 at 5:41 pm

    AFRICA IS VERY DARK

  12. Denny says

    January 8, 2011 at 2:13 pm

    It doesn’t work. All I can see is a white globe with a big red X on it.
    So bad…



PLEASE NOTE: Google Earth Blog is no longer writing regular posts. As a result, we are not accepting new comments or questions about Google Earth. If you have a question, use the official Google Earth and Maps Forums or the Google Earth Community Forums.

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