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In daylight, our big blue marble is all land, oceans and clouds.

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But the night is electric.

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Seen from space, our planet comes alive with light.

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This new view of the Earth's night lights is a composite of data acquired by the polar orbiting Suomi NPP satellite.

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Aboard the satellite, a newly designed instrument called VIIRS is able to collect what scientists say is a remarkably detailed view of the Earth at night.

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In some places, city lights resemble solitary stars in the night sky.

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In other places, dense clusters of galaxies.

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The satellite can even distinguish brightly lit boats that line Egypt's Nile River.

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And the massive flames from gas flares produced as a byproduct of oil and gas exploration in the Middle East.

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As the satellite passes over the darkness of the Himalayas, it shows how human settlement is bound by natural borders.

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Even political borders are starkly visible in this view of North and South Korea.

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And in a line of fishing boats that dot the Yellow Sea.

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But not all light is electric. Glowing just as bright, flaming wildfires burn across Australia.