NASA Spots Christmas and Holiday Lights All the Way from Space (VIDEO)

Each year, holiday lights go up throughout the United States and the nights become just a bit brighter for it. But you don't just see these lights here on Earth; you can also see them from space. Now, NASA has released an image that the NOAA/NASA satellite snapped from orbit.

Around many U.S. cities, lights shine 20 to 50 percent brighter during Christmas and New Year's when compared to the rest of the year. A similar phenomenon can be seen around Middle Eastern cities during Ramadan.

In this case, Suomi NPP, a satellite mission, used an instrument called the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) to capture the new image of the nighttime lights over the United States. In fact, data from the satellite revealed that lights started getting brighter on Black Friday, and then continued to brighten through New Year's Day in 2012 and 2013.

"It's a near ubiquitous signal," said Miguel Roman, a research physical scientist at NASA Goddard, in a news release. "Despite being ethnically and religiously diverse, we found that the U.S. experiences a holiday increase that is present across most urban communities. These lighting patterns are tracking a national shared tradition."

In other words, the world is lighting up with the holidays. And as urban centers expand, it's likely that these lights will continue to brighten into the future.

Want to see the lights for yourself? Check out the video below, courtesy of NASA and YouTube.

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