Earth, Too, Is Just a Little More Beautiful When It's Photoshopped

A time-lapse view of an air-brushed planet

Every frame in the video above is a photograph taken from the International Space Station, at night, by astronauts. Knate Myers, a photographer who specializes in astronomy and timelapse work, compiled the images together, creating a moving video of the world at night, as viewed from the heavens.

And yet even Earth -- even space -- isn't quite that beautiful. To create the stills that comprise the video, "I removed noise," Myers explains of his method. He also edited some of the astronauts' images in Photoshop.

Add to those updates a powerful score -- John Murphy's Sunshine (Adagio In D Minor) -- and you get a remarkable work of art: one that merges scientific discovery with artistic expression, and one that marries the stark beauty of a whirling planet with the whimsy of human imagination.