NASA's Black Marble: Stories from the Night Sky

  • Released Friday, August 1, 2025
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What can we learn from Earth’s nightlights? How does satellite data reveal powerful insights into our world after dark? From the steady glow of growing cities to the sudden darkness caused by natural disasters, nighttime imagery helps scientists track changes across the globe. From the quiet of rural towns to the bustle of urban streets, human activity shapes the planet’s nighttime presence. Wildfires, power outages, and recovery efforts, all visible through the shifting patterns of light. Commercial fishing fleets illuminate oceans, electricity use expands across regions, and cultural celebrations brighten the night sky.

Not only does NASA’s Black Marble data help us understand life here on Earth, but it helps us understand space weather and its impacts to technology. It helps us understand auroras. It helps us understand our space environment. Nighttime satellite imagery and data is more than beautiful, it is a powerful tool for monitoring change, guiding aid, and uncovering unseen rhythms of life on our planet.

Music: "Don't Tell Them," "Delicate Breeze," Universal Production Music.

Find out more about NASA’s Earth Sciences Division at https://science.gsfc.nasa.gov/earth.

This video can be freely shared and downloaded. While the video in its entirety can be shared without permission, some individual imagery provided by external sources is obtained through permission and may not be excised or remixed in other products. For more information on NASA’s media guidelines, visit https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/guidelines/index.html

Complete transcript available.

Music: "Clockwork," Universal Production Music.

Viewed from space, Earth at night tells endless stories. Using satellite data, we can track population growth , natural disaster damage, cultural celebrations, and even space weather. Studying these glowing patterns helps us understand human activity, respond to disasters, and witness a changing world.

Complete transcript available.

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NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

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This page was originally published on Friday, August 1, 2025.
This page was last updated on Wednesday, July 30, 2025 at 7:55 PM EDT.