What Southeast Asia Looks Like at Night From Space - Seasia.co

NASA has released night-time astronaut photographs of Southeast Asia from the International Space Station, and the images show patterns that are easy to miss. Zoomed out, Java and the Malay Peninsula appear to glow almost continuously, while the Philippines break into hundreds of small bright points. Long stretches of Indonesia’s outer islands remain near-dark, largely due to water and terrain. Thailand, Viet Nam, Laos and parts of southern China and Myanmar form the brightest concentrations, typically aligning with settlements and transport routes, including fishing fleets and lightning over the Gulf of Thailand. Java’s bright patches are interrupted by darker volcanic and mountainous areas described by NASA as a “dark necklace.”