An Astronomical Nighttime In Antalya, Türkiye

An astronaut on the International Space Station took this nighttime photograph of Antalya, a coastal city on the Mediterranean in Türkiye.

These nighttime photos, captured by astronauts, provide high-resolution and freely available imagery of Earth at night, often used in research on light pollution and urbanisation. The images reveal detailed aspects of cities, including street layouts, suburban areas, and unlit regions.

Located on Türkiye's southern coast, Antalya is the largest city visible in this image. The photograph contrasts brightly lit urban infrastructure with the unilluminated parks and natural areas, such as the pentagonal Zeytinpark and the surrounding mountain forests. Human-made structures are distinguishable by their lighting patterns, including airports, highways, roads, and shipping ports.

The Taurus Mountains border Antalya to the north and northwest, appearing as extensive dark areas with scattered small settlements. The dark space between Antalya and Serik is mainly due to agriculture along the Aksu River, which flows from the Taurus Mountains and provides water for local communities and irrigation for crops like tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers.

Bright lights in white, blue-green, and purple hues line the coast between Antalya and Serik, marking popular tourist spots such as resorts and beaches. These white and blue hues often contrast with the yellow tones of older cities, as bright LED lights replace the warm-hued, high-pressure sodium lighting. Astronaut photography tracks spectral changes in city lights for various environmental and human-related studies.

The photograph labelled ISS067-E-372979, was captured on September 17th 2022, with a Nikon D5 digital camera using a focal length of 180 millimetres. The ISS Crew Earth Observations Facility and the Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit at Johnson Space Center provide it. Captured by a member of the Expedition 67 crew, the picture was cropped and enhanced to improve contrast, with lens artefacts removed. The International Space Station Program supports the lab as part of the ISS National Lab, assisting astronauts in taking valuable images of Earth for scientific and public use, making these images freely available online.

Additional photographs by astronauts and cosmonauts are available at the NASA/JSC Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth—caption by Sara Schmidt, GeoControl Systems, JETS Contract at NASA-JSC.

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