NASA: Agency shares new photos of Earth at night

This week marked the 50th anniversary of Earth Day and people all over the world showed their support for environmental protection. In keeping with the special holiday, NASA has shared new photos of Earth at night.

The photos the agency shared featured North and South America on the planet’s night side and was taken by the Suomi-National Polar-Orbiting Partnership Satellite. The city lights from New York, Rio de Janeiro, and Los Angeles shone the brightest from that side. “Fifty years ago, on April 22, 1970, people around the world marked the first Earth day...On this Earth Day, as we physically separate ourselves by necessity, we can still collectively appreciate the wondrous beauty of our planet and the extraordinary science that helps us understand how it all works - and we can do it from our home” said NASA in a statement.

The images that NASA released came from a set of photos previously taken back in 2017, a composite of three hemisphere views. Last year in 2019, NASA released its Earth at Night photobook, showing sets of photos of the planet taken on its night sides. NASA associate administrator Thomas Zurbuchen wrote in the preface that he hopes the book can inspire the mind and the soul. “Dazzling photographs and images from space of our planet’s nightlights have captivated public attention for decades. In such images, patterns are immediately seen based on the presence or absence of light: a distinct coastline, bodies of water recognizable by their dark silhouettes, and the faint tendrils of roads and highways…”

It was previously reported that the long-anticipated asteroid known as 1998 OR2 is already approaching Earth’s orbit. The space rock is predicted to fly by Earth on the 29th of April. This potentially hazardous asteroid, measuring between 1 to 4 kilometers in diameter, will already be visible enough to telescopes by the time it approaches.

According to Astronomer Gianluca Masi, the asteroid is already hurtling through space at a speed of 31,320 kilometers per hour and was visible enough for him to take a photo at a distance of 12 million kilometers from Earth. Space enthusiasts will get a chance to witness the fly by on the 28th of April through a live stream event.