This time-lapse video was taken by the Expedition 61 crew on board the International Space Station (ISS) on October 28, 2019 at 21:34:32 to 21:48:40 GMT. This nighttime sequence was taken looking southeast and spans from the southern half of India, across Bangladesh, up to the mountains of China in the east. Flashes of lightning in the beginning highlight the coastline of India and the major city of Bangalore in the center. As the shot sweeps toward the northeast, we see the bright lights of Kolkata and Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. Darkness is prevalent as the ISS flies over the southeast portion of the Tibetan Plateau. The last major city is Xi'an, at the edge of the Qinling Mountains, before light takes over the frame.

This time-lapse video was taken by the Expedition 56 crew on board the International Space Station. The sequence of shots were taken on June 9, 2018 from 15:23:52 to 15:31:23 GMT, on a night pass from Malaysia toward Western Australia. The video begins looking southeast toward the Indonesia islands. Coastlines are traced out by urban areas with interconnected, yellow-colored lights. In contrast, there are many fishing boats in the surrounding dark waters that can be distinguished by individual green or cool-toned white lights. Lightning storms are the concentrated bright flashes are seen throughout this video. The ISS continues past the islands of Sumatra and Java. The video ends over the vast waters of the Indian Ocean while approaching the coast of Western Australia.

This video was taken by the crew of Expedition 45 on board the International Space Station. The sequence of shots was taken on September 14, 2015 from 16:58:00 to 17:21:07 GMT, on a pass over eastern Asia at night. This video begins over as the ISS passes over the northern Indian Ocean and toward Sumatera. The pass continues over the South China Sea, where Taiwan and Japan are visible. The video ends when the ISS flies toward the Kamchatka Peninsula.

This video was taken by the crew of Expedition 31 on board the International Space Station. The sequence of shots was taken April 30, 2012 from 13:41:10 to 13:47:37 GMT, on a pass from central Myanmar to just north of Malaysia. This night video features the ISS traveling southeast over the Indochina peninsula, where the cities of Ha Noi and Ho Chi Minh City stand out, as well as the lights of offshore boats around the peninsula. The pass ends as the ISS nears storms over Indonesia and the Philippines.

This video was taken by the crew of Expedition 29 on board the International Space Station. The sequence of shots was taken November 18 to 19, 2011 from 23:47:21 to 00:04:42 GMT, on a pass from South Africa, west of Johannesburg, to southern Pakistan. The Russian vehicle Soyuz is shown off-center throughout the video, just days before astronauts Mike Fossum, Satoshi Furukawa, and Sergey Volkov board this vehicle to come back to Earth. Near the beginning of the video, the bright lights of Johannesburg as displayed as the ISS tracks northeast up the eastern Africa coastline. A few lightning storms can also be seen near Johannesburg. As the pass continues, the Arabian Peninsula is only briefly seen in the far right of the video before the pass ends over the Arabian Sea, just south of Pakistan.

This video was taken by the crew of Expedition 29 on board the International Space Station. The sequence of shots was taken October 29, 2011 from 16:56:46 to 17:28:21 GMT, on a pass beginning over central Ukraine to just south of Australia, over the Great Australian Bight. This video immediately starts by looking southeast toward the Black Sea, then continues over the Caspian Sea and to the Mideast. The India-Pakistan border stands out as the snaking orange line left of track. The bright lights nearby the borderline are those of Karachi, Pakistan's largest city and main seaport. The pass continues down the western half of India, with lightning storms shooting off in the southwestern half of the peninsula. The lights of Sri Lanka can be seen through the clouds directly downtrack of India before passing into the Indian Ocean. Finally, the pass ends just west of Australia, with the lights of Perth seen on the coastline. The Aurora Australis can be seen in the distance as the video ends.

This video was taken by the crew of Expedition 29 on board the International Space Station. The sequence of shots was taken October 20, 2011 from 17:48:40 to 18:05:17 GMT, on a descending pass from eastern China to western New Guinea, and rounds out to an ascending pass just as the video ends north of Australia. As the pass begins southeastward towards the South China Sea, the first noticeably-lit area is that of Hong Kong and Macau. The island of Taiwan can also be easily seen left of track. The ISS passes over the South China Sea towards the Philippines, which have some cloud cover and storms. Finally, the pass ends just north of Australia, where the Yorke Peninsula can be seen as a dark, rusty color protruding into the water.

This video was taken by the crew of Expedition 29 on board the International Space Station. The sequence of shots was taken October 21, 2011 from 19:53:26 to 20:25:24 GMT, on a pass beginning over Turkmenistan, east of the Caspian Sea to southeastern China, just northwest of Hong Kong. City lights show at the beginning of the video as the ISS travels southeastward towards the India-Pakistan borderline (click here for our Earth Observatory article to learn more about this area). Pakistan's second largest city, Lahore, can be easily seen as the brightly lit area left of track. Immediately downtrack of Lahore is New Delhi, India's capital city, with the Kathiawar Peninsula right of track dimly lit. Smaller cities in southern India can be seen as the pass continues southeastward through southern India, into the Bay of Bengal. Lightning storms are also present, represented by the flashing lights throughout the video. The pass ends over western Indonesia, looking left of track at the island of Sumatra.

This video showing night lights over Malaysia was taken by the crew of Expedition 28 on board the International Space Station. This sequence of shots was taken August 21, 2011 from 19:33:05 to 19:38:05 GMT, on a descending pass from western Burma to just east of Malaysia on the South China Sea. Clouds cover the countries of Burma and Thailand at the beginning of the video. Many thunderstorms can be seen over Singapore, just to the west of Malaysia (to the right in this video). Malaysia stands out nicely near the end of this video as the peninsula jetting into the South China Sea.

This pass begins over Mongolia, looking out west towards the Pacific Ocean, China, and Japan. As the video progresses, you can see major cities along the coast and the Japanese islands on the Philippine Sea. The island of Guam can be seen further down the pass into the Philippine Sea, and the pass ends just to the east of New Zealand. A lightning storm can be seen as light pulses near the end of the video.