BEFORE YOU READ THE TEXT BELOW YOU SHOULD SEE WHAT ALL YOU CAN IDENTIFY!

WE WATCHED COLUMBIA ON TWO CONSECUTIVE NIGHTS AS SHE TRAVELLED FROM WEST TO EAST ACROSS THE SKY.

Ever seen Day and Night at single time...........

Read the text below before viewing the picture - taken from Columbia before landing...very cool.

THIS PHOTO IS ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL. BE SURE TO READ THE TEXT BELOW TO
HAVE A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT YOU ARE VIEWING. IT IS HISTORIC TOO
AS THIS IS THE LAST MISSION FOR COLUMBIA .

The photograph below was taken by the crew on board the Columbia during its last mission, on a cloudless day. The picture is of Europe and Africa when the sun is setting.
Half of the picture 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.