You Really Can See Your Neighbor’s Christmas Lights from Space

For the last three years, a NASA satellite has been tracking the spread of Christmas lighting from 512 miles up. According to the orbital images, nighttime lights around many major U.S. cities shine 20% to 50% brighter during the weeks of Christmas and New Year’s. 

The images were taken by the Suomi NPP satellite (nerd alert: site contains a wealth of really cool images), a joint mission of NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Suomi’s Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) has a low-light sensor that can distinguish night lights tens to hundreds of times better than previous satellites. 

According to the data, the lights start getting brighter the day after Thanksgiving and continue through News Year’s Day. Not surprisingly, most of the higher output comes from suburban areas.

At NAPA Net, it will be lights out on Jan. 1. We’ll be back on Friday, though. Happy New Year!