Photo: Southern United States at Night as Seen From the International Space Station

This north-looking nighttime panorama of much of the land mass of the eastern two-thirds of the contiguous United States was photographed by one of the Expedition 30 crew members aboard the International Space Station as it was moving over the Gulf of Mexico on Jan. 29, 2012. In this series, the 24-mm images cover the area from the Atlantic Coast (right) to the eastern edge of the southwestern states and the western Gulf of Mexico. Most of the Florida peninsula is easily recognizable at right edge. The lights of dozens of large metropolitan areas are visible. ISS030-E-055547 (29 Jan. 2012) — high res (1.3 M) low res (69 K)