Tokyo as seen from space

Tokyo as seen from space Today’s Video of the Day comes from the European Space Agency (ESA) and features a look at Tokyo, Japan as seen from space.

Tokyo is the largest megacity in the world with a population of almost 38 million people.

These images were captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellite and highlight the contrast between the gray tones of the urban landscape and the dark green of the mountains to the west. It might look upside down, but that’s because it was captured from the International Space Station as it was passing over the city. This night space image shows the city of Tokyo at night. The blue green glow in the photograph comes from the mercury vapor lighting that lines the streets of the city.

With the Earth’s surface in darkness, night images of cities require much longer exposure times. As the Space Station (or Space Shuttle) flies over Earth, however, the city the astronaut is trying to photograph will move across the camera’s field of view while the shutter is open—a recipe for blurry images.

And you can also see vast regions of the Earth which are totally dark. It might look upside down, but that’s because it was captured from the International Space Station as it was passing over the city. This night space image shows the city of Tokyo at night.

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By Rory Arnold, Earth.com Staff Writer

Video Credit: European Space Agency (ESA)