The image was taken by
the crew on board the Columbia during its last mission, on a cloudless
day. The photo is of Europe and Africa when the sun is setting. Half of
the image is in night. The bright dots you
see are the cities lights. The top part of Africa is the Sahara Desert.
Note that the lights are already on in.Holland, Paris, and
Barcelona, and that's it's still daylight in Dublin, London, Lisbon, and
Madrid. The sun is still shining on the Strait of Gibraltar. The
Mediterranean Sea is already in darkness. In the middle
of the Atlantic Ocean you can see the Azores Islands; below them to the
right are the Madeira Islands; a bit below are the Canary Islands; and
further South, close to the farthest western point of Africa, are the
Cape Verde islands. Note that the Sahara is
huge and can be seen clearly both during Daytime and night time. To the
left, on top, is Greenland, totally frozen.
