i played in gimp and managed to create this (the lights i added with a luminosity layer in vue). the lower left atmosphere glow was added in gimp. the sun with the flare is a mix of positioning the sun close to earth in vue and then mixing/postprocessing in gimp with the previous render ...

this was fun to do. have to redo it in the office and make a nice wallpaper without the watermark :)

p.s. if anybody has tips how i can create this within vue please let me know!