The video above is a compilation of shots taken by astronaut Ron Garan (Twitter’s astro_ron) from the ISS. From August through October of this year Garan took the time-lapses with a special 4K camera developed by NHK Japan, known as the SS-HDTV. Vimeo user Michael Konig put together the video, edited it, cleaned it up, added the music, and made it into what we see above.
The most notable part of the video, at least for me, are the instances of the Aurora Borealis and Aurora Australis. They appear in such places as the eastern United Stated and Madagascar, not just at the poles, where we typically expect to see them (well… see them from a terrestrial viewing point). I also found myself fascinated by the concentration and lack of lighting in certain areas. For instance, at 0:37 you can clearly see Chicago (a hotspot) next to Lake Michigan (a dark spot). The Earth isn’t oriented perfectly east-to-west, but we can still pick stuff like that out.
