Google Maps Nighttime!

Looks like you forgot to include a link to the site: http://www-static.cc.gatech.edu/~pesti/night/

Um...so you can zoom in....big whoop.

I think it's awesome.

Take a look at North Korea and the costal edges of Europe. Very cool find. Thanks.

seed it

Looks fantastic - it's like a map of civilisation (assuming you take the view that cities are the way forward - don't wanna upset anyone there).

I do have to admit that it's interesting to see what the planet looks like during the nighttime. I think it's a reflection on our society. Regardless of the time of day, there's always someone working, someone looking out for our country's security. I would also like to think that it's kind of sad to see that the lights are always on, thinking that it means that we as Americans don't know how to rest :-

thinking that it means that we as Americans don't know how to rest :-

More like humans as a race don't know how to rest. Just because we're Americans doesn't mean we're the only ones who have lights protruding into the sky at night. Look at the rest of the world. Look at Japan and Europe. Why are they so different from us? They aren't.

It's a very cool map, but are all the images taken from night time? Because, if let's say the US was taken at night. 10PM Pacific, 12 Midnight (Central), and 1AM Eastern, then London through Lisbon would actually be early morning 6AM. Lots of people start waking up around 6AM.

Even if it does display the time in relation to time zones around the world, I think the map serves well as a population/"civilization" map. Look at the United States, Central America, Europe, and segments of Asia. There's no room to move around, practically every place that could be populated, has been. Whereas, South America, Africa, and Australia population has occurred mostly on coastal lands. Obviously for tons of reasons, including people still die fairly easily from the elements in the non-coastal lands, but still take a look at Mongolia and large swarths of China seem virtually untouched. Obviously people live there, but they seem unconquered by the touches of modern civilization.

Very cool. If I was looking for a map of places to visit, this would help me make my decision. I like just enough people for creature comforts, but not areas that are overly populus. New Zealand, Australia, parts of South America seem ideal. Even in the US, I'd probably choose places in the MidWest or Mountain regions; the Pacific as well, though obviously bypassing coastal California.

I would not use this as an indication of areas of the world that are populated, there are political and financial reason for lights at night in a country. Look at India, it has about four times the population of the US and is a little smaller in physical size, yet it isn't as lit up.

Just a thought.

Tentoglou: Are you looking at the right area? India is pretty well lit. At least, what I would expect for a country with its population and resources. It's has more lights, but a similar intensity similar to the Mideast/Midwest United States. If you click on the "Night Map" button it will display the country names for you.

A good example of current light pollution & wasted energy. using full cut off luminaires can help.