NASA ISS Image: Dubai City Lights

The city lights of Dubai are seen from space in this image taken by a crew member on the International Space Station.

The highways and major streets are sharply defined by yellow-orange lighting, while the commercial and residential areas are resolved into a speckle pattern of individual white, blue, and yellow-orange lights.

The brilliant lighting of the city contrasts sharply with both the dark Persian Gulf to the northwest, and largely undeveloped and unlit areas to the southeast.

Likewise, the clusters of lighting in the Palm Jumeira complex at bottom right correspond to the relatively small part of the archipelago that has been developed.

Isolated areas of blurred city lights are due to patchy clouds.

Picture: NASA/AP