Darkness descends

Apart from being absolutely beautiful, this satellite photograph is historic too. It was, apparently, taken by the crew on board the Columbia Space Shuttle during its tragic mission.

The picture is of Europe and Africa, on a cloudless day/night. Half of the earth is in various stages of night and the other half is enjoying various degrees of daylight.

The bright dots you see are lights in various cities, towns and villages.

The top part of Africa is the Sahara Desert. Note that the lights are already on in Holland, Paris, and Barcelona, and that it's still daylight in Dublin, London, Lisbon, and Madrid.

The sun is still shining on the Strait of Gibraltar. The Mediterranean Sea, however, is already in darkness.

In the middle of the Atlantic Ocean you can see the Azores Islands. Below them, to their right are the Madeira Islands. A little below them are the Canary Islands. And further south, close to the farthest western point of Africa, are the Cape Verde Islands.

To the top-left, totally frozen, is Greenland.

Note that the Sahara is huge and can be seen clearly during both, day and night.