NASA’s 19-Gigapixel Filmstrip of the Earth
via jtotheizzoe:
With the newest generation of Landsat satellites up and snappin’, in orbit over 400 miles above us, NASA continues a mission over a generation in the making: Observing a beautiful and changing planet from above.
This video features 56 photos stitched together in a continuous 19-gigapixel image that stretches from Russia to South Africa. Dig in to the interactive “Long Swath” at NASA’s Earth Observatory. This image covers almost 1.7 million square kilometers, but it would take over 300 of them to paint a picture of all of Earth’s surface.
Bonus: Combine this with Google’s Earth Engine to gain a perspective on our planet once reseved for time-traveling astronauts.
(via The Atlantic)
Earth from Space: Great Blue Hole
In the sixty-third edition, we look at an underwater sinkhole in the Belize Barrier Reef.
Use the following link to view and download the full size image: http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Observing_the_Earth/Earth_from_Space_Great_Blue_Hole
Earth from Space is presented by Kelsea Brennan-Wessels from the ESA Web-TV virtual studios.
via ESA.
Earth from Space: Special edition
Discover more about our planet with the Earth from Space video programme.
In this special edition, ESA astronaut Paolo Nespoli joins the show to share his view of Earth from space while on board the International Space Station.
In the coming weeks, Paolo will be back on ESA Web-TV in a new programme to tell us more about his experiences as an astronaut.
via ESA.
What Do Time Travel & Big Data Have In Common?
Rick Smolan, the CEO of Against All Odds Productions, has photographed the world, but these 5 things still manage to catch his attention! In this episode of EPIPHANY, get an inside look at Rick Smolan’s world!
via Thnkr TV.
Earth from Space: Équateur
Earth from Space is presented by Kelsea Brennan-Wessels from the ESA Web-TV virtual studios. Deforestation in the Democratic Republic of Congo is discussed in the sixty-second edition.
Use the following link to view and download the full size image:
http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Observing_the_Earth/Earth_from_Space_Equateur
via ESA.
Earth from Space: Ocean link
Earth from Space is presented by Kelsea Brennan-Wessels from the ESA Web-TV virtual studios. Central Panama and its 80 km-long ship canal are featured in the fifty-fourth edition.
Use the following link to view and download the full size image:
http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Observing_the_Earth/Earth_from_Space_Ocean_link
by ESA.
Earth from Space: Canyon country
Earth from Space is presented by Kelsea Brennan-Wessels from the ESA Web-TV virtual studios.
In the fifty-third edition, discover Lake Powell and the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in the United States.
Use the following link to view and download the full size image:
http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Observing_the_Earth/Earth_from_Space_Canyon_country
by ESA.
Comet ISON Caught on Camera
via laboratoryequipment:
NASA’s Deep Impact spacecraft has acquired its first images of comet C/2012 S1 (ISON). The images were taken by the spacecraft’s Medium-Resolution Imager over a 36-hour period on Jan. 17 and 18, 2013, from a distance of 493 million miles. Many scientists anticipate a bright future for comet ISON; the spaceborne conglomeration of dust and ice may put on quite a show as it passes through the inner solar system this fall.
“This is the fourth comet on which we have performed science observations and the farthest point from Earth from which we’ve tried to transmit data on a comet,” says Tim Larson, project manager for the Deep Impact spacecraft at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. “The distance limits our bandwidth, so it’s a little like communicating through a modem after being used to DSL. But we’re going to coordinate our science collection and playback so we maximize our return on this potentially spectacular comet.”
Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/videos/2013/02/comet-ison-caught-camera
Earth from Space: Scandinavian snows
Earth from Space is presented by Kelsea Brennan-Wessels from the ESA Web-TV virtual studios. Check out the snow-covered Norwegian coastline in the fifty-second edition.
Use the following link to view and download the full size image:
http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Observing_the_Earth/Earth_from_Space_Scandinavian_snows
by ESA.
Moonwalk … and Ripples
via jtotheizzoe:
I love it when a gorgeous video can help deliver a science lesson. This clip from Reel Water Productions shows Dean Potter walking a highline over Cathedral Peak with a rising lunar disk behind him. It’s a breathtaking feat, captured in breathtaking beauty. Go ahead and watch it two or three times in HD like I know you want to.
Did you notice how the Moon was sort of rippling like a mirage? When we view astronomical objects through the Earth’s atmosphere, their light has to pass through a huge amount of air (at least 100 km worth). Tiny thermal and wind currents in that air distort the nice even waves of light into turbulent ones. When those crooked waves hit our eyes, it appears to us as ripples (since the waves themselves actually change their direction ever so slightly). Although not precisely related to refraction (which does happen in the atmosphere), you can imagine this kind of like the distortions that happen when the still surface of a pond is interrupted by a thrown pebble.
This effect can really mess up ground-based telescope images, although corrective optics and computers can help. Just watch this zoom of a lunar crater wobble:
Telescopes like Hubble and the upcoming James Webb Telescope avoid this problem completely by getting their images from above the atmosphere!
Anyway, that’s enough about the science. Any more talk of ripples and Dean might start wobbling on that highwire up there :)
National Geographic Live! : Face-to-Face with a Leopard Seal
Photographer Paul Nicklen receives an unexpected gift … free food from a major predator.
National Geographic Live! : Capturing the Spirit Bear
Photographer Paul Nicklen tests his patience in an effort to capture the rare spirit bear — a potential key to saving a pristine corner of British Columbia.
Planetary Society Hangout, Jan 3rd, 2013: Jim Bell on Photographing Mars
Jim Bell, President of the Planetary Society and head of the camera team on Spirit and Opportunity, talks about how much fun it is to explore Mars.
Read more at http://planetary.org , support space exploration at http://planetary.org/sos
Play Time: 59:03
Earth from Space: Gateway to the Arctic
Earth from Space is presented by Kelsea Brennan-Wessels from the ESA Web-TV virtual studios. See where the first person to fly an aeroplane in the Arctic took off from on his pioneering flights in the fifty-first edition.
Use the following link to view and download the full size image:
http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Observing_the_Earth/Earth_from_Space_Gateway_to_the_Arctic
by ESA.
National Geographic Live! : Paul Nicklen: Emperors of the Ice
Wildlife photographer Paul Nicklen dives beneath the Antarctic ice to capture the “bubbly” emperor penguins in action, and risks being mistaken for his subjects by some very hungry predators.
