ISS astronaut snaps stunning nighttime photo of Florida and Cuba
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Airglow and city lights come together in this image. . | Credit: NASA/Expedition 72 crew
At 2:23 a.m. Eastern Time on March 19, 2025, an astronaut aboard the International Space Station (ISS) captured a striking night view of Earth, where shimmering moonlight dances on dark ocean waters while clusters of city lights outline the Florida peninsula, the Caribbean, and parts of Central America.
Dense beams of lighting trace major population centers, including the bright corridor from Miami to Fort Lauderdale along Florida’s southeast coast, the Tampa-St. St. Petersburg region on the Gulf Coast and the Orlando metropolitan area near the center of the peninsula. Smaller but still noticeable light patterns mark the Florida Keys, Nassau in the Bahamas, Havana and other cities in Cuba.
What is this?
Besides the stunning city lights, what sets this image apart is the presence of moon reflection, the nocturnal counterpart of sun. Just as sunlight reflects off the surface of the ocean during the day, moonlight occurs when moonlight reflects off the water at just the perfect angle to reach the observer.
In this case, the observer was an ISS crew member, orbiting hundreds of kilometers above Earth. At that time the moon was in a waning phase and approximately 78% litbright enough to produce a focused reflection on the sea, especially near the Florida Keys and Cuba.
The photograph was taken using a Nikon Z9 digital camera with a 28 millimeter lens, providing a wide field of vision similar to that of the human eye. This perspective allows viewers to appreciate the curvature of the planet, accentuated by a thin, pale green layer of air glow on the horizon, a reminder of Earth’s atmosphere glowing softly in the darkness of space.
Where is he?
This photo was taken aboard the ISS, approximately 400 kilometers above Earth.
Moonglint and airglow are two phenomena shown in this image. | Credit: NASA/Expedition 72 crew
Why is this amazing?
Nighttime images of Earth reveal patterns of human settlements, infrastructure and land use that are difficult to capture during the day. Scientists use these observations to study urban growth, energy consumption and light pollutionwhile also tracking how human activity interacts with natural environments.
The appearance of the lunar reflection is particularly valuable for researchers. Moonlight reflections on the ocean can help scientists study sea surface conditions, such as roughness and wave patterns, even at night. When combined with other data sources, these observations improve understanding of ocean-atmosphere interactions and refine models used in climate and environmental research.
The image shows the temperature difference between the top and bottom of a hurricane.
The images reveal the incredible power of the storm and offer essential information about the formation of these hurricanes.
A powerful geomagnetic storm recently created a series of brilliant auroras for observers across North America.
Want to know more?
You can learn more about air glow and the International Space Station
