NASA releases "most amazing high-definition" photo of earth, from space

NASA today released a so-called 'Blue Marble' image of Earth captured by the VIIRS instrument on NASA's most recently launched Earth-observing satellite, the Suomi NPP. The composite image above "uses a number of swaths of the Earth's surface taken on January 4, 2012." Larger sizes here (hello, new computer desktop image!)

Boing Boing editor/partner and tech culture journalist Xeni Jardin hosts and produces Boing Boing's in-flight TV channel on Virgin America airlines (#10 on the dial), and writes about living with breast cancer. Diagnosed in 2011. @xeni on Twitter. email: xeni@boingboing.net.

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The Snowden Principle

mallfellow

It may be a beautiful image but the size of the North American continent is quite out of proportion to what it should be.
- jetfx
  
  The apparent size of the US in this image is probably due to the viewing angle.
- chenille
  
  I expect it’s because the image is taken near the Earth, so should really cover nearly half the sky, where the edges are the horizon instead of a full hemisphere. Shrinking it down distorts the angles, so it looks like a far away planet where Mexico alone covers ninety degrees of latitude…it’s a little too much projection for me.
Bryan

There’s so little green in the U.S. I’d be interested to see how the image would change if it could be retaken six months from now.
- http://dailygrail.com/ Red Pill Junkie
  
  Well, they are still on a recession, you know ;)
Phlip

Yeah! Unlike the original Big Blue Marble, this one has (most of) the Unitey States on it!
- http://dailygrail.com/ Red Pill Junkie
  
  Um, that’s Mexico :P
MatthewKrohn

BWAHAHA the full-size image is so large it caused GNOME viewer to crash my entire GNOME session.
lavardera

less green than I hoped
bo1ngbolnguser001

aren’t scientists concerned that the land mass of the United States is overtaking so much of the ocean since 2002? http://visibleearth.nasa.gov/view.php?id=57723
paulj

The full-size image is roughly 1 km per pixel, and even at that resolution, it’s amazing how hard it is to see signs of human activity. Some straight lines and rectangular forms are about your only clue that there might be some intelligence down there.
- jetfx
  
  If you know how to look the signs are there. A land use classification on an image of that resolution will show human activity is pretty apparent. Urban areas, farming, clear cuts, etc.
  - Stepan Arkadyevich Oblonsky
    
    No need. Just look at it at night, very easy to see urban areas from the vast amounts of light pollution.
- Mark Dow
  
  Industrial steam plumes in the southeast US are pretty obvious.
http://profile.yahoo.com/FPMEXM2PWVKXRAC3UQ76JGWY2I rainbowlotus

One big beautiful living breathing organism. We should all be thankful that “she” allows us to reside and thrive.
http://twitter.com/thebenshaw Ben Shaw

A shame that they only included that obscure outpost instead of the bits where 87% of the human population live…
Ashen Victor

Since when North America is bigger than Asia?

I call photoshop fail. Don`t care about lenses or viewing angles, it is plain wrong.
Snarky Bothan

Badly ‘shopped. Check the Earth’s limb between about 4:30 and 7:30 for the most glaring bits
Nicky G

Inter-national house of pan-cakes… doooo, doooo dooooooo
haineux

Stewart Brand is very, very happy. So am I.
http://dailygrail.com/ Red Pill Junkie

I have turned all my desktop icons into (very ordered) satellites ^_^
zuben

Texas. It’s like a whole other planet.
http://profiles.google.com/cityprole Wendi Galczik

Apparently, the “Earth” consists only of North America..why does that not surprise me?