This is an animation of the Earth as seen from space. The idea was to simulate the light levels of the stars and the dark side of the earth accurately, hence the exposure of the camera is increased by almost 100 times when the dark side of Earth is shown in order for the light from the cities on earth and the light from the stars to show.

The textures used for the surface, clouds, topography etc. were used with permission from NASA.

A more detailed description of the animation can be found on my website: http://www.richardandersson.net/?p=331