NASA’s new VIIRS—or Visible Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite—satellite travels in a sun-synchronous orbit. So as it photographs the planet, each photo is taken at the same time ensuring that all the images have similar lighting.
It’s slowly being brought online and powered up, but this is officially the first complete photo of Earth it took on November 24, 2011. And if you’re wondering why the arctic is MIA, it’s simply because during the Winter it’s too dark to see in visible light. via Gizmodo
December 18, 2011
