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City of Power
Featured on July 20, 2012
The lights of Alexandria, Egypt, glow beneath the International Space Station in this recent image. The city was established by Alexander the Great more than 2,300 years ago. Its original layout may have had an astronomical connection, with a main road aligned with the rising point of the Sun and the star Regulus, which was associated with kings in the ancient world. Such an alignment would have celebrated Alexander's power and confirmed his divine right to rule. [NASA]