APOD: Earth at Night (2022 Feb 13)

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APOD: Earth at Night (2022 Feb 13)

Post by APOD Robot » Sun Feb 13, 2022 5:06 am

Image Earth at Night

Explanation: This is what the Earth looks like at night. Can you find your favorite country or city? Surprisingly, city lights make this task quite possible. Human-made lights highlight particularly developed or populated areas of the Earth's surface, including the seaboards of Europe, the eastern United States, and Japan. Many large cities are located near rivers or oceans so that they can exchange goods cheaply by boat. Particularly dark areas include the central parts of South America, Africa, Asia, and Australia. The featured image, nicknamed Black Marble, is actually a composite of hundreds of pictures remade in 2016 from data taken by the orbiting Suomi NPP satellite.

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Ann
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Re: APOD: Earth at Night (2022 Feb 13)

Post by Ann » Sun Feb 13, 2022 5:30 am

So, I was on this bus. 🚌 It may have been November, and it was getting dark. ⬛ There was a young couple on the bus, a boy and a girl. 👫 Suddenly the girl said to the boy, Look at the Sun. 🌞


And I looked. There it was, the Sun, round and yellow. And I thought to myself, dreamily, There is something wrong. The Sun is sick. It is so wan. The Sun is shining, but it's quite dark... I guess we are all going to die...

That's the Moon, said the boy. And the world snapped into place again.


But lo and behold, the Sun went out again. At least for this APOD. See for yourself, it's dark everywhere all at once! I guess someone put the Earth where the Sun doesn't shine!

Ann
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Re: APOD: Earth at Night (2022 Feb 13)

Post by Ian Mackenzie » Sun Feb 13, 2022 8:35 am

It would be interesting to see this image in a projection which doesn't over-represent the poles and under represent the equator.

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Re: APOD: Earth at Night (2022 Feb 13)

Post by VictorBorun » Sun Feb 13, 2022 8:45 am

Ian Mackenzie wrote: Sun Feb 13, 2022 8:35 am It would be interesting to see this image in a projection which doesn't over-represent the poles and under represent the equator.
poorer quality here
Screenshot 2022-02-13 at 11-43-34 Earth At Night.png
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Re: APOD: Earth at Night (2022 Feb 13)

Post by Ian Mackenzie » Sun Feb 13, 2022 8:56 am

Thanks, that's brilliant and certainly puts things in perspective.

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Re: APOD: Earth at Night (2022 Feb 13)

Post by XgeoX » Sun Feb 13, 2022 9:12 am

Ann wrote: Sun Feb 13, 2022 5:30 am So, I was on this bus. 🚌 It may have been November, and it was getting dark. ⬛ There was a young couple on the bus, a boy and a girl. 👫 Suddenly the girl said to the boy, Look at the Sun. 🌞

And I looked. There it was, the Sun, round and yellow. And I thought to myself, dreamily, There is something wrong. The Sun is sick. It is so wan. The Sun is shining, but it's quite dark... I guess we are all going to die...

That's the Moon, said the boy. And the world snapped into place again.

But lo and behold, the Sun went out again. At least for this APOD. See for yourself, it's dark everywhere all at once! I guess someone put the Earth where the Sun doesn't shine!

Ann
Good tale Ann and your last point reminds me of how I wonder they don’t do solar missions to the Sun’s nightside!

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Re: APOD: Earth at Night (2022 Feb 13)

Post by orin stepanek » Sun Feb 13, 2022 12:30 pm

EarthAtNight2016_SuomiNPP_1080.jpg
A rerun; but a goody! :thumb_up: :yes:
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Re: APOD: Earth at Night (2022 Feb 13)

Post by bystander » Sun Feb 13, 2022 2:46 pm

orin stepanek wrote: Sun Feb 13, 2022 12:30 pm EarthAtNight2016_SuomiNPP_1080.jpg
A rerun; but a goody! :thumb_up: :yes:
Yes, this has been the subject of APOD at least five times before

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap001127.html
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap040822.html
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap081005.html
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap121207.html
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap170709.html

But this may be the first time this particular image has been used.
Last edited by bystander on Sun Feb 13, 2022 6:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: added 2008/10/05
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Re: APOD: Earth at Night (2022 Feb 13)

Post by bystander » Sun Feb 13, 2022 2:49 pm

Ian Mackenzie wrote: Sun Feb 13, 2022 8:35 am It would be interesting to see this image in a projection which doesn't over-represent the poles and under represent the equator.
https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/features/NightLights

Scroll down 2/3 toward the bottom
Know the quiet place within your heart and touch the rainbow of possibility; be
alive to the gentle breeze of communication, and please stop being such a jerk.
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Re: APOD: Earth at Night (2022 Feb 13)

Post by Liz S. » Sun Feb 13, 2022 6:49 pm

I love this graphic. I have used it for my computer Background image for several years.

It is amazing how much of the world you can recognize just from the lights... like the Nile River and the Florida Peninsula. It definitely gives you an idea of population density around the planet.

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Re: APOD: Earth at Night (2022 Feb 13)

Post by Confused » Sun Feb 13, 2022 6:56 pm

Yes it is interesting that Cairo is very lit up and that there are many lights down the Nile from Cairo.

It is also interesting that Taiwan and Hong Kong have many lights. North Korea is very dark.

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Re: APOD: Earth at Night (2022 Feb 13)

Post by ptahhotep » Sun Feb 13, 2022 7:07 pm

I spotted a light in the uninhabited South Sandwich Islands, which seemed unlikely. A quick check and the fact that the image dates from 2016 confirmed what it must be: the erupting volcano Havfruen Peak on Bristol Island as it did erupt that year.

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Re: APOD: Earth at Night (2022 Feb 13)

Post by Chris Peterson » Sun Feb 13, 2022 10:16 pm

ptahhotep wrote: Sun Feb 13, 2022 7:07 pm I spotted a light in the uninhabited South Sandwich Islands, which seemed unlikely. A quick check and the fact that the image dates from 2016 confirmed what it must be: the erupting volcano Havfruen Peak on Bristol Island as it did erupt that year.
Possible. Also possible are lights from fishing boats, which are seen in a number of ocean locations.
Chris

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Re: APOD: Earth at Night (2022 Feb 13)

Post by neufer » Mon Feb 14, 2022 3:17 am

ptahhotep wrote: Sun Feb 13, 2022 7:07 pm
I spotted a light in the uninhabited South Sandwich Islands, which seemed unlikely. A quick check and the fact that the image dates from 2016 confirmed what it must be: the erupting volcano Havfruen Peak on Bristol Island as it did erupt that year.
How about "Mount Sourabaya, a cone near the center of Bristol Island."
https://volcano.si.edu/volcano.cfm?vn=390080 wrote:
<<Bristol Island, near the southern end of the seven South Sandwich Islands in the isolated Southern Atlantic Ocean, lies 800 km SE of South Georgia Island at latitude 59° S. Historic eruptions occurred on Bristol Island in 1823, the 1930s, and the 1950s. A new eruption was reported from Mount Sourabaya, a cone near the center of the island, beginning at the end of April 2016. It produced ash plumes and strong thermal anomalies most likely generated by lava flows until the end of July 2016. Information about Bristol Island comes from NASA Earth Observatory and other satellite imagery data, and the Buenos Aires Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC).>>
Art Neuendorffer

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Re: APOD: Earth at Night (2022 Feb 13)

Post by zendae1 » Mon Feb 14, 2022 4:28 am

I have a giant poster of somewhat of an opposite. Satellite shot of the entire Earth in daylight with no clouds anywhere.

Anyone notice no appreciable light in North Korea?