Las Vegas, Nevada, perhaps the brightest place on Earth! The new Vegas Sphere is centered, appearing from orbit as a distinct dot of light beside the famous Strip. I took this photo with my Nikon Z9 on Expedition 72 to the ISS. More photos from space can be seen on my [twitter](https://x.com/astro_Pettit) and instagram, astro_pettit
Grouchy_Bicycle8203 on
I’m sure others are brighter, think the likes of Tokyo, someone fact check me?
Mentally_Displaced on
I can see my house from here.
Kadburi on
Bad place to be an amateur astronomer
DaveNumber7 on
That’s a great shot. I like “downtown” the best.
See you at the 4 Queens.
Marcysdad on
I’ve seen some dark things there….but they stayed there…
ReverendWeenbone on
It is pretty cool flying in at night.
ijabruhs on
Looks like a migraine aura
ferrari_snowday on
Very cool! Out of curiosity, what is the super dark “L” just off center of what I assume is the strip? Apologies if it’s super obvious; I’ve never been to Las Vegas!
LordBungaIII on
And it’s not even nice looking light pollution. I miss the yellow light. Looked like rivers of gold
stimpy_thecat on
I’d hate to have to pay that electric bill
BlueRosePhantom on
That looks too small? Vegas is huge if you are counting the whole surrounding area.
MachinegunNami on
Brighter than Shibuya, Tokyo? Guangzhou? Shenzhen? rlly?
i feel like it could be the “brightest” in the us but on earth?? thats insane xD
efvie on
I was thinking that can’t *possibly* be right, the Strip is tiny. But maybe it’s because any actual city has dense, tall buildings that hide and absorb the light (and might even have intentionally curbed escaping light pollution) and Las Vegas is a parking lot with a few huge light installations with plenty of surface to bounce off of.
Is it just me or does that not kinda look like a face?
You got a pointy nose and a pointy chin and you kinda have some lips, neck and a head
_Cecille on
There’s something beautiful about it but also weirdly dystopian.
Wish I could actually see the night sky, all the stars and stuff. But no, I get a handful of semi-bright stars on a pitch black canvas. Fucking hate light pollution
Novel-Lengthinesss on
Why does this look like Roger singing the American dad intro song
bleeper21 on
The level of detail in the photo is astonishing to me. I love seeing your work on my feed!
Slice_of_314159 on
What happens in Vegas, is seen from space.
cantescapethereaper on
Humans lit up the planet so fast in the last 100 years, it’s easy to forget how early stage we are.
cetootski on
While the strip is bright. Chongqing beats Las Vegas in terms of brightness as a whole city and size as well.
dpahoe on
Looks like some sort of an advanced motherboard with an LED in the middle.
Aindrium on
I can see my old home(s) from here. 😂
OneCartographer4075 on
Is it? I would say Madrid is bright, Moscow is bright as well, and NYC
Free-County-3025 on
And the rest of Nevada, except for Reno, is mainly just sand and tumbleweed or sagebrush😂😂
njsullyalex on
Why does Las Vegas look like the top half of New Jersey
exploringspace_ on
Maybe 30 years ago, but today it’s just way too small by every metric, even just light. No way it’s brighter than Chongquin
PM_ME_UR_MUNCHIES on
Really? Got a comparison of Hong Kong / New York / Shanghai? I assume by their scale they’d be way brighter
PapaDuckD on
I can literally see my home in this picture.
Away_Needleworker6 on
Interesting how sudden it ends compared to cities in other climates
mfmeitbual on
I think this is oriented with North at the top of the image.
If so, the uneven diagonal’ish line is not the freeway like a person might think. I’m 99% sure it’s Boulder Highway.
xallux on
And where the light ends….that’s where problems are buried.
Spudtron98 on
A monument to Man’s arrogance.
commandedbydemons on
As someone who lives here, you can drive basically 30 minutes north into absolutely nothing and have insanely good views 🙂
Decronym on
Acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations, contractions, and other phrases which expand to something larger, that I’ve seen in this thread:
|Fewer Letters|More Letters|
|——-|———|—|
|ETOV|Earth To Orbit Vehicle (common parlance: “rocket”)|
|[LV](/r/Space/comments/1rojcy2/stub/o9eqsxg “Last usage”)|Launch Vehicle (common parlance: “rocket”), see ETOV|
|[STS](/r/Space/comments/1rojcy2/stub/o9eh77r “Last usage”)|Space Transportation System (*Shuttle*)|
Decronym is now also available on Lemmy! Requests for support and new installations should be directed to the Contact address below.
37 Comments
Las Vegas, Nevada, perhaps the brightest place on Earth! The new Vegas Sphere is centered, appearing from orbit as a distinct dot of light beside the famous Strip. I took this photo with my Nikon Z9 on Expedition 72 to the ISS. More photos from space can be seen on my [twitter](https://x.com/astro_Pettit) and instagram, astro_pettit
I’m sure others are brighter, think the likes of Tokyo, someone fact check me?
I can see my house from here.
Bad place to be an amateur astronomer
That’s a great shot. I like “downtown” the best.
See you at the 4 Queens.
I’ve seen some dark things there….but they stayed there…
It is pretty cool flying in at night.
Looks like a migraine aura
Very cool! Out of curiosity, what is the super dark “L” just off center of what I assume is the strip? Apologies if it’s super obvious; I’ve never been to Las Vegas!
And it’s not even nice looking light pollution. I miss the yellow light. Looked like rivers of gold
I’d hate to have to pay that electric bill
That looks too small? Vegas is huge if you are counting the whole surrounding area.
Brighter than Shibuya, Tokyo? Guangzhou? Shenzhen? rlly?
i feel like it could be the “brightest” in the us but on earth?? thats insane xD
I was thinking that can’t *possibly* be right, the Strip is tiny. But maybe it’s because any actual city has dense, tall buildings that hide and absorb the light (and might even have intentionally curbed escaping light pollution) and Las Vegas is a parking lot with a few huge light installations with plenty of surface to bounce off of.
Pretty pic nonetheless!
Hardly. I’m surprised you haven’t seen [my neighbor’s ridiculous flood lights](https://i.ibb.co/DDvPkxh1/1772341934536.jpg) from wherever you are in the Solar system…
would put Tokyo at first place
Is it just me or does that not kinda look like a face?
You got a pointy nose and a pointy chin and you kinda have some lips, neck and a head
There’s something beautiful about it but also weirdly dystopian.
Wish I could actually see the night sky, all the stars and stuff. But no, I get a handful of semi-bright stars on a pitch black canvas. Fucking hate light pollution
Why does this look like Roger singing the American dad intro song
The level of detail in the photo is astonishing to me. I love seeing your work on my feed!
What happens in Vegas, is seen from space.
Humans lit up the planet so fast in the last 100 years, it’s easy to forget how early stage we are.
While the strip is bright. Chongqing beats Las Vegas in terms of brightness as a whole city and size as well.
Looks like some sort of an advanced motherboard with an LED in the middle.
I can see my old home(s) from here. 😂
Is it? I would say Madrid is bright, Moscow is bright as well, and NYC
And the rest of Nevada, except for Reno, is mainly just sand and tumbleweed or sagebrush😂😂
Why does Las Vegas look like the top half of New Jersey
Maybe 30 years ago, but today it’s just way too small by every metric, even just light. No way it’s brighter than Chongquin
Really? Got a comparison of Hong Kong / New York / Shanghai? I assume by their scale they’d be way brighter
I can literally see my home in this picture.
Interesting how sudden it ends compared to cities in other climates
I think this is oriented with North at the top of the image.
If so, the uneven diagonal’ish line is not the freeway like a person might think. I’m 99% sure it’s Boulder Highway.
And where the light ends….that’s where problems are buried.
A monument to Man’s arrogance.
As someone who lives here, you can drive basically 30 minutes north into absolutely nothing and have insanely good views 🙂
Acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations, contractions, and other phrases which expand to something larger, that I’ve seen in this thread:
|Fewer Letters|More Letters|
|——-|———|—|
|ETOV|Earth To Orbit Vehicle (common parlance: “rocket”)|
|[LV](/r/Space/comments/1rojcy2/stub/o9eqsxg “Last usage”)|Launch Vehicle (common parlance: “rocket”), see ETOV|
|[STS](/r/Space/comments/1rojcy2/stub/o9eh77r “Last usage”)|Space Transportation System (*Shuttle*)|
Decronym is now also available on Lemmy! Requests for support and new installations should be directed to the Contact address below.
—————-
^([Thread #12223 for this sub, first seen 9th Mar 2026, 01:01])
^[[FAQ]](http://decronym.xyz/) [^([Full list])](http://decronym.xyz/acronyms/Space) [^[Contact]](https://hachyderm.io/@Two9A) [^([Source code])](https://gistdotgithubdotcom/Two9A/1d976f9b7441694162c8)