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NASA / NOAA / Suomi VPP / VIRS / Norman Kuring
This new "Blue Marble" image of Earth was produced by the VIIRS instrument aboard NASA's most recently launched Earth-observing satellite: Suomi NPP. The composite image was assembled from image data captured from a number of swaths of Earth's surface on Jan. 4. The NPP satellite was renamed "Suomi NPP" on January 24, 2012 to honor the late Verner E. Suomi of the University of Wisconsin, who is considered the father of satellite meteorology.
NASA's "Blue Marble" image is one of the best-known high-resolution pictures of our planet. It's even included as one of the default images for Apple's iPhone. Now NASA has released a brand-new "Blue Marble 2012," based on image data from the VIIRS instrument aboard Suomi NPP, the most recently launched Earth-observing satellite.
The Suomi spacecraft was known as the NPOESS Preparatory Project, or NPP, when it was launched last October. This week it was renamed the Suomi NPP — or Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership — to honor the late Verner. E. Suomi, a professor at the University of Wisconsin who became known as the father of satellite meteorology. The $1.5 billion mission is a partnership involving NASA as well as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the U.S. Air Force.
Suomi is the first of a new generation of satellites that will provide data for climate research as well as weather prediction. It carries five instruments on board, and the biggest and most important of the five is the Visible/Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite, or VIIRS. This composite image was built up from swaths of surface image data collected on Jan. 4.
To learn more about Suomi, check out the mission's website. For a huge 8,000-by-8,000-pixel version of Blue Marble 2012, go to the NASA Goddard Photo and Video Flickr gallery. And for a daily dose of Earth imagery, including more pictures from VIIRS, click on over to NASA's Earth Observatory.
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From a distance.
...the world looks blue and green,..
It's my favorite planet.... I'm really attached to it.
Can't help but notice how little snow cover there is in the northern states this year... Not trying to start a climate change debate, but I wonder how much a prolonged lack of snow cover this winter would affect future temps?
No debate. Less snow = less albedo/reflectivity = more absorption = even higher temperatures = more water content in atmosphere = even more extreme weather events = possibly more drought or possibly massive winter snowfalls over North America depending on the El Nino/La Nina cycle.
Yeah, that's what I was thinking. Going to be interesting to see what the weather does the next couple years...
Yes, and it has never not snowed before...this is the first year in the history of our planet that it has not snowed...the sky is falling...what are we going to do...I am so afraid...I'm buying my carbon credits today...in fact, I'm renting a Lear jet and flying to meet Algore wherever the prophet is...
Guess you missed NASA's newest "news" release regarding the coming "cool-down" of earth due to the expected slow down in the Sun's activity...oh, I forgot, they also just predicted a rise in earth's temp...but not to worry, Nat Geo released their opinion that the earth goes through a 20,000 year climate "change" where the entire Sahara desert changes to lush tropical jungle with lakes...oh, I forgot, at the same time they released another study that says it the climate is heating up and ...and...and...
Idiots!
Skeeter, the Sun's activity is not slowing down.
Why is it that a name like Skeeter reminds me of a southern redneck who never got past grade school?
Just asking.
Skeeter - "not snowed before???" Try telling that to the folks who live in Alaska this winter! Otherwise, I appreciate your sense of humor.
@ Brokinarrow:
I think this is a false color image. If I'm not mistaken, the photos are shot in three wavelengths on the infrared end of the light spectrum and those three wavelengths are translated to red, green and blue. This may account for the fact that everything visible north and west of the Mississippi basin looks brown. (Although, the clouds managed to show up as white here, so it's not clear to me why snowpack wouldn't, as well.) Maybe someone more knowledgeable about the way this photo was produced could comment.
Also, it's a little hard to tell just how far north we're able to see in this shot, at least without studying it with a full globe to compare it to.
Looks peaceful.
Beautiful. Not as iconic as the "Blue Marble" but beautiful.
Looks a little brown to me...
Well, it is the middle of winter in the north hemisphere...
Image is bad. For proof looky this guy's blog: stormeyes.org/wp/2012/01/big-blue-distortion/
C'mon, nothing could be that round... it's gotta be a little flatter than that
Here's a video version that really captures how big the Earth really is...
Our earth is stunning, absolutely beautiful.
Let us pause for a moment and look at these detailed images to appreciate the vast and dynamic treasure we have inherited.
Surely we can find a way to solve our problems as the one people that we are.
Surely we can get along enough to save our home, and the home of children and grandchildren.
You are right George. I think you should fly to the Pashtun region of Afghanistan and tell those folks to lighten up.
Well said George - let us ALL sue for peace
g'luck with that. As much as I would love it if we could quit fighting and put all that money into research and education endeavors, it's just not going to happen so long as there are resources that some countries have and others don't.
this is the best screen saver i have ever seen ....for earth anyways ... it s the dark side i dont like.... luke im your father
Hey! I think I can see my house!
I see Russia from your house...
With all of the stars in the universe how come you can't see any in the background?
Exposure time.
The Earth is (not exaggerating) about 1 million times brighter than the background stars, requiring a very quick exposure.
If the exposure was long enough to catch the dim stars, the Earth in the image would be an extremely bright white orb - we would see no detail at all.
For exactly the same reason it is very hard to image the Moon (which is only ~2% as bright as the Earth) surrounded by stars. The exposure must be set for one, or the other, but can not image both.
Cheers! ~Michael (Astronomy.FM★Radio)
Great question. Recalling the shot from the moon showing earth rise, a similarly short exposure....
Michael:
Do you have any sense of the edge of the earth's image? The atmosphere being so thin, 10+ miles, do you think the edge of the image was enhanced?
Good point; I don't know, Kasey. As @Letreanna pointed out in an above post, the "fish-eye lens" effect is a bit distracting.
My SWAG (Scientific Wild-Alec Guess) is that when we look at the Earth's limb (edge) we are seeing the clouds in the troposphere and stratosphere in profile, which at this scale would help to "define" the edge.
The atmosphere goes well beyond the cloud tops, but it is the tops of the clouds that define our visual sense of the depth of the atmosphere.
It's amazing to see all of that water, and then to know that this is the only planet in the solar system that has any appreciable liquid amount of it. Compared to any other, we are the water giant of the solar system.
ozone looks fine from this angle
A spaceship traveling through time,What a venture.Looks like it is running out of oil & gas though.She still looks great.
That's ok...common sense dried up long ago!
Hey, you, kids! I see you.
Now, get off my lawn!