A view of most of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_America" class="extiw" title="en:North America">North America</a> taken from a low orbit of about 826 km altitude. The whole hemisphere is not visible owing to the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low_Earth_orbit" class="extiw" title="en:Low Earth orbit">low orbit</a>, and the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horizon" class="extiw" title="en:Horizon">horizon</a> is at a distance of about 3,300 km, while the radius of the planet is 6,371 km. The diameter seen from this height is about 125 degrees.
An image of the Earth taken from the VIIRS instrument aboard NASA's Earth-observing research satellite, Suomi NPP. This composite image uses a number of swaths of the Earth's surface taken on 4 January 2012. The NPP satellite was renamed 'Suomi NPP' on 24 January 2012 to honour the late Verner E. Suomi of the University of Wisconsin. Suomi NPP carries five instruments on board. The biggest and most important instrument is The Visible/Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite or VIIRS.
NASA/NOAA/GSFC/Suomi NPP/VIIRS/Norman Kuring
2012-01-04 08:49:23
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