<p>Patterns of population density emerge in this composite image of the United States released by <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/home/index.html">NASA</a> on Wednesday, part of a global composite image captured from space by a NASA and <a href="http://www.noaa.gov/">National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration</a> (NOAA) satellite.</p><p>The cloud-free images show the glow of natural and artificial light in what a NASA press release calls the most detailed night images yet.</p><p>The images were unveiled during the American Geophysical Union <a href="http://fallmeeting.agu.org/2012/">conference</a> in San Francisco.</p>

Everything Is Illuminated

Patterns of population density emerge in this composite image of the United States released by NASA on Wednesday, part of a global composite image captured from space by a NASA and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) satellite.

The cloud-free images show the glow of natural and artificial light in what a NASA press release calls the most detailed night images yet.

The images were unveiled during the American Geophysical Union conference in San Francisco.

Image courtesy NASA Earth Observatory/NOAA NGDC

Pictures: New HD View of Earth at Night

Earth's lights shine in newly released satellite images from NASA, the most detailed yet.

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