On New Year’s Day, I released a small virtual fireworks show to celebrate the start of the year. The Swiss newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung then put my effort to shame by publishing an impressive orbital tour of the entire planet on the same day – recorded by the International Space Station.
Illuminated Cities and Northern Lights: A New Year's Flight around the World around the World is a guided tour of planet Earth on 1 January 2026, seen from space. Among the many highlights of this breathtaking journey are the northern lights shimmering above Canada, lightning strikes captured over the island of Sumatra, and the eerie contrast between the brightly lit cities of South Korea and the near-total darkness of North Korea.
The International Space Station travels around the Earth at roughly 28,000 kilometers per hour, completing a full orbit every 90 minutes. Neue Zürcher Zeitung has stitched together moments from these orbits to capture an overview of human activity and natural phenomena in a mesmerizing, planet-wide New Year’s panorama.
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