This
image of North and South America at night is a composite assembled from data
acquired by the Suomi
NPP satellite in April and October 2012. The new data was
mapped over existing Blue
Marble imagery of Earth to provide a realistic view of the
planet.
For more such images of our
planet, read Earth at Night, NASA’s
latest ebook that features dazzling photographs and images from space
of Earth’s nightlights. For nearly 25 years, satellite images of Earth at
night have served as a fundamental research tool, while also stoking public
curiosity. The images paint an expansive and revealing picture, showing
how humans have illuminated and shaped the planet in profound ways since the
invention of the light bulb 140 years ago.
This image’s striking
nighttime view was made possible by Suomi’s “day-night band” of the Visible
Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite. VIIRS detects light in a range of
wavelengths from green to near-infrared and uses filtering techniques to
observe dim signals such as city lights, gas flares, auroras,
wildfires and reflected moonlight. In this case, auroras, fires and
other stray light have been removed to emphasize the city lights.
Image Credit: NASA
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