NASA has released another image of the Earth (at night) from outer space, and the results are just as amazing as one would imagine. Taking a leaf from the ‘Blue Marble’ image taken by the Apollo 17 in 1072, the new image has been dubbed as ‘Black marble’.
The space agency said that it has examined the ways in which light is radiated, scattered and reflected by the Earth.
Former astronaut, Mike Massimino, in an interview with CBS news said that the level of light also signifies the affluence of the land. Areas such as Australia and Africa aren’t as affluent as America.
NASA is also planning to automate the image processing so that the people of the Earth can view such images within a few hours of them being taken.
NASA also said that taking nighttime images daily could help monitor unregulated fishing, track sea and ice movements and help protect tropical forests.
A United Nations took this opportunity to use the images from space to monitor the effects of war on an ailing Syria.
As far as India is concerned, the land appears to be the brightest and most densely lit of the lot. The last such image released by the agency was back in 2012.
The benefits of such imagery is far more than imaginable, say experts. From monitoring light reflections, to understanding behaviour based on geographical positions, these images help with a lot.
When the images will be made available daily to the public, it will be even more beneficial as t will allow a wider range of experts and even amateurs to analyse them.
