Don Pettit(@astro_Pettit):I have spent 23 years documenting the global LED transition of city lighting from space. Across my 4 missions to the ISS, I have photographed every major city on Earth, building a data set of the gradual replacement of sodium vapor lighting with LEDs. The warmer, yellow-orange of gas discharge lamps has been phased out worldwide to multi-colored LEDs, citing energy savings and environmental reasons. Widespread adoption has markedly changed the way our cities look from orbit, and as many have pointed out, how they feel to those on the ground! Here is a collection of the most striking before-and-after photos I have observed:

2026.09.07 00:52

I have spent 23 years documenting the global LED transition of city lighting from space. Across my 4 missions to the ISS, I have photographed every major city on Earth, building a data set of the gradual replacement of sodium vapor lighting with LEDs. The warmer, yellow-orange of gas discharge lamps has been phased out worldwide to multi-colored LEDs, citing energy savings and environmental reasons. Widespread adoption has markedly changed the way our cities look from orbit, and as many have pointed out, how they feel to those on the ground! Here is a collection of the most striking before-and-after photos I have observed: