Panorama of the East Coast Jan. 29 from International Space Station. Photo courtesy of NASA

COURT HOUSE — For those who wonder what civilization looks like from space, or what "light pollution" means, a NASA astronaut snapped a panorama of the East Coast.

A Jan. 29 panorama of much of the East Coast, was photographed by one of the Expedition 30 crew members aboard the International Space Station. The image provides a look generally northeastward: Philadelphia-New York City-Boston corridor (bottom-center); western Lake Ontario shoreline with Toronto (left edge); Montreal (near center).

An optical illusion in the photo makes the atmospheric limb and light activity from Aurora Borealis appear "intertwined."

Image Credit: NASA