One orbit · 92 minutes

The planet, after dark.

NIGHTSIDE tells the story of one orbit of the Earth at night. Scroll to fly it, or turn the dial in the corner to jump through the pass. The 92-minute clock is a narrative timeline built from separate station passes, not one continuous orbit.

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Footage: NASA astronaut photography · public domain
0Sample: city clusters in view
Minute 28 · Nightside

Every light is somebody up late.

Roads draw as threads, towns as sparks. From 400 km up, a continent reads like handwriting. Counts are sample figures.

Source: NASA ISS crew photography, 2026-09-07 · public domain
0Sample: Kp index
Minute 57 · The green band

The sky moves under you.

Aurora sits below the station, not above it. You pass over curtains of light the way a boat passes over a reef. Reading shown is a sample value.

Source: NASA Johnson, ISS aurora video · public domain
0Sample: seconds to full sun
Minute 85 · Terminator

Dawn arrives in seconds.

The thin blue line thickens, the stars go out, and the whole screen burns white. It happens about sixteen times a day up there. Then the night starts over.

Source: NASA ISS time-lapse (Earth Illuminated) · public domain
After the pass

Pick your night.

Three ways to take the night home: prints, a talk, or a live pass-tracking evening. Prices shown are sample prices.

Print set

Nightside Folio

Twelve archival prints, one per five minutes of the orbit.

$180Sample price
Talk

Aurora Evening

A seated 90-minute talk with the footage on a large screen and a Q&A.

$45Sample price
Live

Pass Night

Rooftop evening with a tracker, tea and a countdown to the station's overhead pass.

$30Sample price
Colophon
NIGHTSIDE is a fictional studio. Offers, counts and readings are sample content. The 92-minute orbit clock is a narrative timeline stitched from separate station passes, not one continuous orbit. The footage is real public-domain NASA astronaut photography.
Footage sources (public domain)
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