Cities from Space - Chicago, IL

It is day three of our orbital nighttime tour of cities from space. Today brings us to the Windy City, Chicago.

Image from NASA's The Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth

Looking at the image you might think that Chicago should be called the City of Light (that title goes to Paris, France which will be featured later).  The light pollution in Chicago is bad enough that a photo of the Chicago skyline was featured on the cover of the November, 2008 issue of National Geographic magazine for the article "The End of Night - Why We Need Darkness".

Located about 30 miles from the center of Chicago is Homer Glen, the newest International Dark Sky Community.  Homer Glen joins an elite group of just four such places in the world - Flagstaff Arizona, Borrego Springs California and the Isle of Sark in the UK.

The skies over Homer Glen are not as dark as they are in the other three places but the community takes outdoor lighting very seriously. Seriously enough to warrant them the honor. The people of Homer Glen have worked to make a difference in outdoor lighting.  You can too.

The image was taken December 18, 2010 by the Expedition 26 crew of the International Space Station.