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NASA's latest image of Earth from one million miles away (same distance as two round trips to our moon). |
GUEST
BLOG—By Karen Northon, NASA
Editor--A NASA camera on the Deep Space Climate Observatory satellite has
returned its first view of the entire sunlit side of Earth from one million
miles away.
This color image of Earth was taken by NASA’s Earth
Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC), a four megapixel CCD camera and telescope.
The image was generated by combining three separate images to create a
photographic-quality image. The camera takes a series of 10 images using
different narrowband filters -- from ultraviolet to near infrared -- to produce
a variety of science products. The red, green and blue channel images are used
in these color images.
The image was taken July 6, 2015, showing North and Central
America. The central turquoise areas are shallow seas around the Caribbean
islands. This Earth image shows the effects of sunlight scattered by air
molecules, giving the image a characteristic bluish tint. The EPIC team is
working to remove this atmospheric effect from subsequent images. Once the
instrument begins regular data acquisition, EPIC will provide a daily series of
Earth images allowing for the first time study of daily variations over the
entire globe. These images, available 12 to 36 hours after they are acquired,
will be posted to a dedicated web page by September 2015.
The primary objective of DSCOVR, a partnership between NASA, the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S. Air Force,
is to maintain the nation’s real-time solar wind monitoring capabilities, which
are critical to the accuracy and lead time of space weather alerts and
forecasts from NOAA.
For more information about DSCOVR, visit:
http://www.nesdis.noaa.gov/DSCOVR/
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