NASA Releases 1st Full Image of Sunlit Side of Earth Since 1972 Apollo 17 Mission
44 replies, posted
[thumb]http://eoimages.gsfc.nasa.gov/images/imagerecords/86000/86257/epicfirstlight_DSC_2015186.jpg[/thumb]
[QUOTE]
The journey has been a long one for the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR). Once known as Triana, the satellite was conceived in 1998 to provide continuous views of Earth, to monitor the solar wind, and to measure fluctuations in Earth’s albedo. The mission was put on hold in 2001, and the partly-built satellite ended up in storage for several years with an uncertain future. In 2008, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), NASA, and the U.S. Air Force decided to refurbish and update the spacecraft for launch.
On February 11, 2015, DSCOVR was finally lofted into space by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. After journey of about 1.6 million kilometers (1 million miles) to the L1 Lagrange Point, the satellite and its Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) has returned its first view of the entire sunlit side of Earth. At L1—four times farther than the orbit of the Moon—the gravitational pull of the Sun and Earth cancel out, providing a stable orbit and a continuous view of Earth. The image above was made by combining information from EPIC’s red, green, and blue bands. (Bands are narrow regions of the electromagnetic spectrum to which a remote sensing instrument responds. When EPIC collects data, it takes a series of 10 images at different bands—from ultraviolet to near infrared.)
This first public image shows the effects of sunlight scattered by air molecules, giving the disk a characteristic bluish tint. The EPIC team is developing data processing techniques that will emphasize land features and remove this atmospheric effect. Once the instrument begins regular data acquisition, new images will be available every day, 12 to 36 hours after they are acquired by EPIC. These images will be posted to a dedicated web page by autumn 2015. Data from EPIC will be used to measure ozone and aerosol levels in Earth’s atmosphere, as well as cloud height, vegetation properties, and the ultraviolet reflectivity of Earth. NASA will use this data for a number of Earth science applications, including dust and volcanic ash maps of the entire planet.
It has not been possible to captures images of the entire sunlit side of Earth at once since Apollo 17 astronauts captured the iconic Blue Marble photograph in 1972. While NASA has released other blue marble images over the years, these have mostly been mosaics stitched together with image processing software—not a single view of Earth taken at one moment in time.
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[url]http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=86257&src=fb[/url]
that looks gray as hell (the doom 4 one)
Really shows just how big the Pacific ocean is.
It's weird it has taken us this long to take a second full image.
[QUOTE=OvB;48265754]Really shows just how big the Pacific ocean is.[/QUOTE]
I can't tell if that's scattered light off clouds, or Australia, just down from the mid left hand side.
Neat image, none-the-less.
[QUOTE=Article]Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC)[/QUOTE]
Also, I love how instruments always have awesome abbreviations.
[t]http://i.imgur.com/Vx7dmJ9.jpg[/t]
Wow the sun makes the Earth so red.
Its looks kinda shit compared to the blue marble picture
[QUOTE=Bradyns;48265770]I can't tell if that's scattered light off clouds, or Australia, just down from the mid left hand side.[/QUOTE]
Don't think you can see Australia from there. So I'm guessing clouds.
[QUOTE=Banhfunbags;48265781][t]http://i.imgur.com/Vx7dmJ9.jpg[/t]
Wow the sun makes the Earth so red.[/QUOTE]
What's with the white balance on your phone?
[QUOTE=paul simon;48266054]What's with the white balance on your phone?[/QUOTE]
Most likely Twilight. It's an app that mimics how F.Lux works.
[QUOTE=ScottyWired;48265786][IMG]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/111996868/2015-2/Crap/ufo.JPG[/IMG]
What's that?[/QUOTE]
Hot pixel.
I'm sure someone is having a total fit over it.
What is funny to think is that the only reason the oceans look blue is that they are reflecting the sky that surrounds them, something that isn't visible from the outside. It is like our whole planet is one big one-way mirror that reflects inside itself.
If our atmosphere composition was any different to cause our sky took look different as well, the oceans would have a totally different color from space.
[QUOTE=KorJax;48266260]What is funny to think is that the only reason the oceans look blue is that they are reflecting the sky that surrounds them, something that isn't visible from the outside. It is like our whole planet is one big one-way mirror that reflects inside itself.
If our atmosphere composition was any different to cause our sky took look different as well, the oceans would have a totally different color from space.[/QUOTE]
Only partially true. Water is very slightly blue even when not reflecting the sky.
This is visible in large bodies of water and the main reason why oceans are blue.
[QUOTE=KorJax;48266260]What is funny to think is that the only reason the oceans look blue is that they are reflecting the sky that surrounds them, something that isn't visible from the outside. It is like our whole planet is one big one-way mirror that reflects inside itself.
If our atmosphere composition was any different to cause our sky took look different as well, the oceans would have a totally different color from space.[/QUOTE]
A deep pool of water looks blue even when it's inside a building where there's no sky to reflect.
The image probably looks odd compared to Apollo shot, because the color bands (red, green, blue) aren't the same ones as you'd expect for a human eye, so the picture ends up slightly shifted on each channel.
[QUOTE=ScottyWired;48265786][IMG]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/111996868/2015-2/Crap/ufo.JPG[/IMG]
What's that?[/QUOTE]
Messed with the levels,
[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/krIM4jE.png[/IMG]
I honestly think it absorbed just enough light to show some stars.
[QUOTE=Snickerdoodle;48266569]Messed with the levels,
[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/krIM4jE.png[/IMG]
I honestly think it absorbed just enough light to show some stars.[/QUOTE]
That can't be right, the difference in exposure between reflected sunlight and starlight is massive.
[QUOTE=Kill coDer;48266667]That can't be right, the difference in exposure between reflected sunlight and starlight is massive.[/QUOTE]
Is there no way to get an exposure with the slightest hint of starlight, or is it impossible?
[QUOTE=Kill coDer;48266667]That can't be right, the difference in exposure between reflected sunlight and starlight is massive.[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=Snickerdoodle;48266752]Is there no way to get an exposure with the slightest hint of starlight, or is it impossible?[/QUOTE]
Could be the reflected sunlight on venus
edit: I just realised this is dumb
It's probably some sort of damaged pixel (happens all the time on camera censors on satellites because of cosmic rays and other space radiation).
[QUOTE=Snickerdoodle;48266752]Is there no way to get an exposure with the slightest hint of starlight, or is it impossible?[/QUOTE]
Starlight is like, 0.0001 lux, looking at Earth with the sun behind the camera is probably around 25000 lux - not within the dynamic range of the camera. Might be Venus? A hot pixel is pretty likely.
Meanwhile, JAXA releases a new picture every ten minutes
[url]http://himawari8.nict.go.jp/[/url]
There's something at the exact same place on the original Blue Marble picture:
[t]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/97/The_Earth_seen_from_Apollo_17.jpg[/t]
So it's probably not a dead pixel, but the reflection of some planet or the moon? It is on the night side of the planet after all?
[QUOTE=The Pink Scotti;48265736]that looks gray as hell (the doom 4 one)[/QUOTE]
Almost reflective of the times, if I may get a little metaphorical.
Or it could just be the wild amount of cloud cover making the surface look so grey.
[QUOTE=BlackPhoenix;48266545]A deep pool of water looks blue even when it's inside a building where there's no sky to reflect.
The image probably looks odd compared to Apollo shot, because the color bands (red, green, blue) aren't the same ones as you'd expect for a human eye, so the picture ends up slightly shifted on each channel.[/QUOTE]
They may be able to fix it to some extent by using more of the colour bands.
Since there are ten from UV to NIR I'd be surprised if not a few more were in the visible range.
[QUOTE=ScottyWired;48265786][IMG]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/111996868/2015-2/Crap/ufo.JPG[/IMG]
What's that?[/QUOTE]
Looks like some sort of red arrow
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