ISS astronaut photographed Midwestern city lights

An astronaut aboard the International Space Station captured a wide-angle photograph of city lights across the Midwestern United States on 2026-10-18. The image was taken at 09:54 Universal Time, while the eastern United States had clear skies.

The photograph is cataloged as ISS075-E-226709 and dated 2026-10-18. An International Space Station astronaut captured the wide-angle image at 09:54 Universal Time using a Nikon Z9 digital camera at 14 millimeters.

The record states that city lights were visible across the Midwestern United States and that the eastern United States had clear skies. It describes the lights as sparkling across the landscape.

Chicago and Detroit are listed among the brightest metropolitan features, while Indianapolis, Cincinnati and Louisville also shine brightly. Chicago appears homogeneous pale yellow in the wide view, but detailed photos reveal a range of colors.

The East Coast was about one hour from sunrise, while Chicago was about two hours from sunrise. Along the horizon, a diffuse green and orange airglow layer is visible; it forms when sunlight interacts with atoms and molecules high in the atmosphere.

The image belongs to Expedition 75 and was provided by the ISS Crew Earth Observations Facility and the Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit at NASA Johnson Space Center.

The International Space Station Program supports the laboratory as part of the ISS National Lab and lists images as freely available on the internet. Additional images can be viewed at NASA/JSC Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth.

An earlier ISS record, ISS070-E-105097, is dated 2024-03-01 and linked to Expedition 70. It lists a Nikon D5 digital camera, 400 millimeters, the ISS Crew Earth Observations Facility, and the Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit at NASA Johnson Space Center.

For readers tracking NASA's observation capabilities, the entry shows how the agency makes lighting imagery publicly accessible. The International Space Station Program lists images as freely available on the internet, and NASA/JSC Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth offers additional images.

The Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth has been used to develop a method for distinguishing lighting types. Astronaut photos are scientifically valuable for tracking changes in the built environment, and satellite sensors observe changes to lighting.

The Black Marble nighttime lights product suite uses satellite observations and produces science-quality records at daily, monthly and yearly time scales. It is used to track power outages and restoration after major storms, as well as transitions to LED lighting from older forms.