‘Blue marble’ image of the Earth
A 'Blue Marble' image of the Earth taken from the VIIRS instrument aboard Nasa's most recently launched Earth-observing 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 is Nasa's next Earth-observing research satellite. It is the first of a new generation of satellites that will observe many facets of our changing Earth.
Suomi NPP is carrying five instruments on board. The biggest and most important instrument is The Visible/Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite or VIIRS.
Image credit: Nasa/NOAA/GSFC/Suomi NPP/VIIRS/Norman Kuring
