NASA releases Photos of Earth at Night

We are always waiting for photos of the Earth from the outer space and NASA never disappoints us. Now NASA has releaved some very much stunning photos of our Earth at night!

These photos are shot using new sensors placed on the Suomi satellite in co-ordination with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.  The “day-night” band filter (which captured Hurricane Sandy  before it hit the east coast of US during October)  was used and  pictures were captured during the periods of April and October.

According to NASA, the technique is more sensitive to light originating from our planet than previous sensors. The “day-night” band filter 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, which gives valuable data for a wide variety of previously unseen or poorly seen events.

“For all the reasons that we need to see Earth during the day, we also need to see Earth at night, Unlike humans, the Earth never sleeps” said Steve Miller, a researcher at NOAA’s Colorado State University Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere.

Hope he is very right! What do you think?

Source : NASA