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Check out this cool Satelite photo


Ttepee

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I recently got this forwarded email witht he text below and link to this picture thought there might be some of you out there that would think it was cool too icon_smile.gif

 

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0011/earthlights_dmsp_big.jpg

"The image is a panoramic view of the world from the new space station. It is a night photo with the lights clearly indicating the populated areas.

You can scroll East-West and North-South.

Note that Canada's population is almost exclusively along the U.S.

border.

Moving east to Europe, there is a high population concentration along the Mediterranean Coast. It's easy to spot London, Paris,Stockholm and

Vienna. Check out the population of Israel compared to the rest of the Arab countries. Note the Nile River. After the Nile, the lights don't come on again until Johannesburg. Look at the Australian Outback and the Trans-Siberian Rail

Route. Moving east, the most striking observation is the difference between North and South Korea. Note the density of Japan.

What a piece of photography. It is an absolutely awesome picture of the Earth taken from the Boeing built Space Station last November on a perfect

night with no obscuring atmospheric conditions."

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quote:
Originally posted by Ttepee:

I recently got this forwarded email witht he text below and link to this picture thought there might be some of you out there that would think it was cool too icon_smile.gif

 

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0011/earthlights_dmsp_big.jpg


 

It is a nice picture, but the description that accompanies it is purest fantasy. The link you should have gotten was http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap001127.html , which clearly states that the image is a composite and has nothing to do with the space station.

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Warm Fuzzies...

 

Ahhhh ok I should have followed the link further before posting it... I pasted too quick I guess ;-) Here is the text that is supposed to be with the picture if anyone else hasn't made it back through the link

 

"This is what the United States of America looks like at night! Can you find your favorite US city on this image?

Surprisingly, city lights make this task quite possible. The above picture is actually a composite of over 200 images made by

satellites orbiting the Earth. Scans were made by the USAF Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) Operational

Linescan System. The DMSP satellites continue to help in the understanding and prediction of weather phenomena as well as

provide key information about population patterns, city light levels, and even rural forest fires. "

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I had this saved from last year. I loved this pic. Take a close look and picture the silloute of Alaska...then think about how big it is in comparrison the the entire straight 48. We always hear about how big Alaska is, but until you see it in scale, it doesnt set in just how huge it really is.

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No .. No .. I remember that night ... it was so clear , not a cloud in the sky and the earth had unraveled so that you could see the whole thing from the top of the Washington Monument! The problem was that everyone was using their Sprint nite-time minutes all at once and I couldn't call anyone to tell them to look outside!

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Alaska looks huge on that image, but it's not as big as it looks. The method of transferring the surface of a sphere into a flat sheet distorts distances at the poles. That's the big drawback of the mercatur projection map. Look at Greenland for example, it looks gigantic, nearly the size of the US. It's not really that big - check a globe.

 

That is a prety cool image. I think I'll set it as my desktop background.

 

Mike

 

I'm not lost!

I just don't know where I am.

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quote:
Originally posted by mvwood:

Alaska looks huge on that image, but it's not as big as it looks. The method of transferring the surface of a sphere into a flat sheet distorts distances at the poles. That's the big drawback of the mercatur projection map. Look at Greenland for example, it looks gigantic, nearly the size of the US. It's not really that big - check a globe.

 

That is a prety cool image. I think I'll set it as my desktop background.

 

Mike

 

I'm not lost!

I just don't know where I am.


 

Yeah, it's not that big. It just adds about 1/3 to the size of the USA. Give or take. It looks pretty impressive when you overlay it on the lower 48. Something about touching the gulf of Mexico and Canada at the same time.

 

All that space and so few geocaches up there yet.

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That is INCREDIBLY neat! I think the bright light near Ottawa Ontario is from my mini-mag flashlight whilst on a night-cache mission icon_wink.gif lol

 

-----------------------------------------------------------

 

sig.jpg

 

"Whad'ya mean you didn't save the location of the truck?..EEEK!!!..."

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This picture has been my desktop image since it was forwarded to me. I catch myself just staring at it for minutes at a time, wondering about those Arctic and Antarctic lights, or the bright ones in the middle of the oceans. Fascinating.

 

--->> All Your Cache Are Belong To Us <<---

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quote:
Originally posted by rmpgis:

Not everyone thinks it's pretty. I like to see where I'm going but most of this light is waste.


Well, since every thread must have it's own argument over something trivial and unrelated to geocaching, I'll pop in with a disagreement.

 

A lot of this light is wasted, but if it helps keep crime down or old ladies (Hi Mopar) from breaking their hip, I'm all for a little waste.

 

Maybe people should start carrying flashlights and handguns at night so that a few more stars can be found? -lions and tigers and halogen- oh my!

 

P.S. Look at the divide between North and South Korea. Maybe a little communism is what we need to dim some lights?

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Well, since every thread must have it's own argument over something trivial and unrelated to geocaching, I'll pop in with a disagreement.

 

A lot of this light is wasted

 

I admit, this does look impressive, but remember, light pollution is a major form of pollution in the world (especially in the US).

 

Think about it, how much light is used to deter crime? Is all of this extra light worth losing out sight of the stars. Go out west and you'll see what they sky should look like.

 

I know your just throwing the argument out for a friendly gesture, so I will do the same!

 

Best,

Cozmo

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I am another one who has made that pic my background. I wish it weren't so distorted though (aside from it's inherent mercator projection distortion.)

 

To address Mossy Oak's question... as the caption says, the photo was created using hundreds of individual pictures. They just used carefully selected pictures that were during the night... (and cloudless) everywhere.

 

Jamie

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Originally posted by Shinola:

 

A lot of this light is wasted, but if it helps keep crime down or old ladies (Hi Mopar) from breaking their hip, I'm all for a little waste.

 

 

Unfortunately any light you see in this picture is not helping prevent crimes or lighting the streets and walkways. This is the light that is projecting straight up into the atmosphere and being wasted as well as causing light pollution and obscuring the view of the stars.

 

In the vein of improving the cleanliness of our environment by picking up trash, we should also be concerned about the waste of light, both for aestetic as well as economic reasons.

 

To find out more about light pollution check out the

Dark Sky Association website. With a few simple changes in outdoor lighting you can save on your electricity bill and make a significant difference in the amount of sky glow, at least locally that is. FYI, some countries are already passing laws controlling light trespass, or shining light where it doen't belong, like our neighbors yards.

 

Okay, I'm coming down from the pulpit now.

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Did anyone download the large picture? I downloaded the 10MB+ TIFF (over a modem) and it was worth it. I can see the dinky little town of Mattoon, IL much more clearly.

 

I hadn't thought of using it as wallpaper but that sounds like a good idea.

 

rdw

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quote:
Originally posted by Balimbras:

Bit of trivia: If the U.S. moved their border 100 miles north, 99% of Canadians would become Americans.


 

I always thought that Canada was in North AMERICA making 100% of Canadians, Americans.

 

- Lone Rangers

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quote:
Originally posted by Markwell:

The problem is - we don't call ourselves United Statesians.


 

That's up to you.

 

So I suppose going by the 'continental' logic, all those in Peru and Brazil are also 'Americans'?

 

MajBach

You can't have everything.

where would you put it?

1compass.gif

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There are smaller versions of this image and others like it at the International Darksky Asscoc. page.

 

http://www.darksky.org/ida/images/images.html

 

Another neat page is the IDA's Dark Sky Finder on their QuikLink page. It helps us astronomers find someplace to see the stars.

 

Stepping up...

 

And in response to Shinola's concerns, we're working to keep those ladies from falling in the dark. Have you ever tried to walk to someone's house and their flood lights are all you can see as you walk? Poorly designed or aimed lights are a good chunk of the problem, not too much light. Please support good outdoor lighting.

 

dang this soapbox is high...bye now

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