Helen, 'twas not just an excellent picture, 'twas an excellent site.

On that site, http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ will give you the "Astronomy Picture of the Day", with a brief explanation. The pictures are from all over the cosmos and, browsing through the archives, some are strikingly beautiful.

For similar night-views of the earth, including the site's write-up:
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap001127.html: entire earth on reduced scale; less detail but no scrolling needed
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010827.html: similar, but highlighting intensities
Asia at night: http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap990728.html
Europe: http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap990516.html
United States: http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000708.html
I saw one of Australia, but cannot re-find it.