Los Angeles at Night

High-resolution image (450 Kb)

After sunset, the borders of "The City of Angels" are defined as much by its dark terrain features as by its well-lit grid of streets and freeways. More than 13 million people inhabit the coastal basin, which is bounded roughly by the Santa Monica and San Gabriel Mountains to the north and the Chino Hills and Santa Ana Mountains to the east and southeast.

The crew of the International Space Station took this unique image shortly after 1 a.m. local time on March 10, 2003. Both the glitter and sprawl of America's second largest city -- as well as a number of its renowned landmarks -- are highly visible. In the north, Hollywood nestles against the south side of the Santa Monica Mountains. On the coast, Los Angeles International Airport and the port facilities at Long Beach Naval Shipyards are bright spots. Finally, even at this time of night, the bright lights of Disneyland in Anaheim are a standout feature.

Astronaut photograph ISS006-E-36913 was taken with an Electronic Still Camera equipped with 85 mm lens and is provided by the Earth Sciences and Image Analysis Laboratory at Johnson Space Center. Additional images taken by astronauts and cosmonauts can be viewed at the NASA-JSC Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth.