Eastern Hemisphere - Blue Marble 2012 - by popular demand
February 2, 2012
Responding to public demand, NASA scientists created a companion image to the wildly popular 'Blue Marble' released last week (
January 25, 2012). www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc/6806922559
The new image is a composite of six separate orbits taken on
January 23, 2012 by the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership satellite. Both of these new 'Blue Marble' images are images taken by a new instrument flying aboard Suomi NPP, the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS).
Compiled by NASA Goddard scientist Norman Kuring, this image has the perspective of a viewer looking down from 7,918 miles (about 12,742 kilometers) above the Earth's surface from a viewpoint of 10 degrees South by 45 degrees East. The four vertical lines of 'haze' visible in this image shows the reflection of sunlight off the ocean, or 'glint,' that VIIRS captured as it orbited the globe. Suomi NPP is the result of a partnership between NASA, NOAA and the Department of Defense.
Credit: NASA/NOAA
Go here to view an image that explains how this image was created: www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc/6803619953
For more information about Suomi NPP go to: www.nasa.gov/npp
NASA image use policy.
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASAs mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASAs accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agencys mission.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc/6806922559/