Antwerp in Belgium, like many European cities, displays a characteristic network of roads that radiate outwards like glowing spider webs
The wider metropolitan area of Chicago, Illinois, home to 10 million people, stands out at night
El Paso, Texas, on the U.S. side of the Rio Grande, is marked by brightly-lit Interstate Highway I-10 that cuts across the city. It is bordered by Ciudad Juaréz, Mexico
The ‘Vegas Strip’ of casinos and hotels, said to be the brightest spot on Earth, stands out in this image of Las Vegas at night
The night lights of Tokyo, like many Japanese cities, have a blue-green glow caused by mercury vapour lighting
This night-time view of London, captured in 2003, shows how the population density rapidly drops off from the city’s bright urban centre. It was taken at 7.22pm on February 4. Thin clouds are evident in the fuzzy character of patterns for some of the surrounding smaller cities.
The Canadian city of Montreal is seen lit up at night in an orbital motion photo taking from the International Space Station
The sprawling urban footprint of São Paulo, Brazil, where different colours denote the different types and generation of streetlight
The striking lights of southern California, as captured by astronaut Don Pettit
