Crew Earth Observations (CEO) of the Aurora Borealis and city lights taken during Expedition Six

ISS006-E-18382 (January 2003) --- Bright city lights along the coastline and interior of the eastern coast of the United States were captured with a digital still camera by one of the Expedition Six crewmembers on board the International Space Station (ISS). This nighttime view shows New York City, the largest and brightest metropolitan area along the coast. The metropolitan area straddles the Hudson River and spreads eastward over western Long Island. The second largest city in this image is Philadelphia. The crew of the station took this image from a vantage point well to the northwest with the camera pointed back towards New York City and the coast. The result is that the perspective is highly distorted but still recognizable. Low clouds have formed over the waters of the Atlantic and have settled into some of the valleys of the Appalachian Mountains to the northwest.