Around and Around We Go

Streaks of light in the sky and on the ground give this photograph from the International Space Station the look of a carnival ride. Instead, it is a composite of several long exposures from a camera mounted on the orbiting outpost that show the station's motion above Earth and Earth's rotation on its axis. The streaks of light on the surface are from cities, while the blue patches are clouds illuminated by lightning. Earth's atmosphere forms a yellow band topped by green, and a red aurora glows at high altitudes. [NASA]