The Cellar - View Single Post - 6/8/2003: Earth at night from the north pole

Tanalia · 06-09-2003, 04:23 PM

Two clues that this isn't a "real" image; as pointed out, it's dark everywhere, and no storms/clouds anywhere.

This appears to be a reprocessing of the image known as "The Brilliant Earth" (there is a daytime counterpart "The Living Earth"). These images are composites of satellite photos chosen and blended to elliminate weather obscuration. The image is simply mapped onto a sphere and a view from the top shown.

I'm not sure about the background. There is a corresponding composite image called "The Starry Sky" which might have been similarly mapped, though it could be almost any simple starfield or even a set of randomly generated dots that "looks about right".

More info on the sources can be seen at http://livingearth.com

06-09-2003, 04:23 PM	#8
Tanalia Casual Observer Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: SF Bay area Posts: 19	Two clues that this isn't a "real" image; as pointed out, it's dark everywhere, and no storms/clouds anywhere. This appears to be a reprocessing of the image known as "The Brilliant Earth" (there is a daytime counterpart "The Living Earth"). These images are composites of satellite photos chosen and blended to elliminate weather obscuration. The image is simply mapped onto a sphere and a view from the top shown. I'm not sure about the background. There is a corresponding composite image called "The Starry Sky" which might have been similarly mapped, though it could be almost any simple starfield or even a set of randomly generated dots that "looks about right". More info on the sources can be seen at http://livingearth.com