NASA Releases Amazing 64-MP 8000x8000 Photo of Earth

[hang-the-9]

[citation][nom]donotdisturb[/nom]It is not real image. I see aliased pixels on the globe edge.No real photo looks like that![/citation]

If it was printed in a photo lab and not digital. Even at this high resolution you can't render a curved surface perfectly in digital. Did you mistake the PC world for the real one again? If you poke your finger at the water on the screen it won't get wet either, proof of it not being real also?

 

[hang-the-9]

[citation][nom]JohnnyLucky[/nom]WOW! Amazing image. You gotta see it on a 30 inch monitor set up for professional photography.[/citation]

That won't work either for a full image, it's 8k x 8k.

I have a $10,000 radiology 4k display here, it looks nice but not even in full rez then hehe

 

[hang-the-9]

[citation][nom]tlmck[/nom]Cool, but how much did it cost me in tax money.[/citation]

Nothing, they already took the picture. You should ask how much it cost in knowledge and expanding culture. Which is a lot. I'd rather see my tax money go to creating images like this and expanding our knowledge of how the universe and us work than giving my money to out of work drug addicts to go out and buy 50" LCD TVs and Air Jordans with my money or for free healthcare for illegals who work the system when I have to use up most of my salary to keep my kids housed and taken care of.

 

[ojas]

[citation][nom]back_by_demand[/nom]I thought China was on the other side of the Pacific?[/citation]
China,
A) Is developing (remember the US when it was still industrializing?)
B) Has 4.3 times the population of the US.

I'm not Chinese, but facts are facts. Yes pollution norms here in asia are not so strict in general, and that's a big issue, but then the US is still a resourse hog if it's consuming any more than 1/4 of what china uses.

http/www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=greenhouse+gas+emission

 

[razor512]

Photo was edited to clean it up a bit. noise reduction was run as well as the removal of some background elements. (look closely at the background surrounding the planet)

(looks like the pen tool was used on the top of the image with no anti aliasing)

 

[brucen13]

[citation][nom]Nakal[/nom]But it has to be fake, you cannot see the stars! (well at least that is what the fake moon landing people say....)[/citation]

[citation][nom]donotdisturb[/nom]It is not real image. I see aliased pixels on the globe edge.No real photo looks like that![/citation]

If you read the article is says "According to NASA, the image is a composite that uses a number of swaths of the Earth's surface taken on January 4, 2012."

This is a composites of images taken of the earth's surface, so you are not going to see stars and of course it has aliased pixels. If that makes it fake, then so be it, but take if for what the story says it is, not what you want it to be.

 

[asnorton44]

Used up 4GB of my RAM but opened with ease.

 

[razor512]

Also wanted to add for those who think aliasing is normal, the edge sharpness shows a 100% pixel mapping while a camera does not do this, even the high end 60+ megapixel hassleblad cameras.

the closest content to the aliased line has what is equivalent to anti aliasing.

Also look at the exif data (photoshop was used on the image)

 

[belardo]

It looks fake, where are the state lines?

 

[iam2thecrowe]

[citation][nom]lp231[/nom]Then your monitor is stupid.[/citation]
i was thinking its the user......

 

[1foxracing]

[citation][nom]ojas[/nom]China,A) Is developing[/citation]

The United States have been here for 236 years, China has been around for 4,000+ years. How much longer will be it be till they emerge from a "developing" nation??

 

[razor512]

[citation][nom]1foxracing[/nom]The United States have been here for 236 years, China has been around for 4,000+ years. How much longer will be it be till they emerge from a "developing" nation??[/citation]


Give it another 4000 years, remember patience is a virtue.

 

[zerghumper]

Is it just me or is North America looking REALLY dry? I thought we were in a drought here in Cali, I just never realized how widespread it was. Look at South America by comparison, and that's what parts of California should look like around this time of year. I really hope we get some rain soon otherwise I don't know what's going to happen to the agricultural communities in my area (though thankfully most grow grapes).

All these troubles we have just seem so small the farther back we get though, don't they?

 

[back_by_demand]

[citation][nom]ojas[/nom]China,A) Is developing (remember the US when it was still industrializing?)B) Has 4.3 times the population of the US.I'm not Chinese, but facts are facts. Yes pollution norms here in asia are not so strict in general, and that's a big issue, but then the US is still a resourse hog if it's consuming any more than 1/4 of what china uses.http/www.wolframalpha.com/input/ [...] s+emission[/citation]
When the rest of the world was industrialising they didn't know it would kill the planet, now that we know we are spending trillions to try and research alternate power from fusion, to solar, to wind power and so forth.
...
After we discovered traditional fuels would kill the planet, instead starting trying to raise alternate infrastructure the Chinese decided to go the fossil fuel route and help kill the planet even more
...
The worst thing is, even if we crack nuclear fusion and turn off all the fossil fuel plants in the west, China will see that as an open ticket to have all the oil and coal in the middle east that they can no longer sell to anyone and they will keep burning it up until we all die a smokey death on an uninhabitable rock
...
Thanks, China

 

[mr_tuel]

[citation][nom]jonpaul37[/nom]I wonder what that same picture must have looked like 500 years ago, was probably alot more green.[/citation]
Don't forget that the northern hemisphere is in WINTER, and the area in the center of the photo is mostly desert/semi-arid or grassland which does is not as green as a forest, even in the summer. What's really frightening is comparing aerial photos of the past 40 years over the Amazon rain forest. LOTS of deforestation...

 

[pocketdrummer]

I love how NASA releases an enormous picture of the earth, and the rest of the world is pissed off that it was taken over North America... where NASA is located.

 

[mr_tuel]

[citation][nom]eAbyss[/nom]North America looks like a deserted wasteland. Would it kill you people to plant a few trees?[/citation]
Trees don't grow very well in deserts and the plains. Just not enough precipitation to support them. Now its too bad the Appalachians were covered by clouds, but they would have had a brown tinge thanks too, thanks to all of those leafless deciduous trees! I want to see a late spring photo, THAT should look quite nice, as would a nice fall one where you can clearly see New England...

 

[mrmaia]

Only now I noticed Brazil has been turned into a lake.

 

[RoboTree]

[citation][nom]mrmaia[/nom]Only now I noticed Brazil has been turned into a lake.[/citation]
I was a bit confused by this as well at first glance. Then I realised that's the Caribbean Sea. That lush green area that sticks out to the right, which from the sounds of it a few people have mistaken for South America, is part of Mexico, near Cancun. South America begins near the Bottom right of the image - you can just see Panama before the southern continent in a break in the clouds.

And to everyone debating pollution levels - debate is always healthy, but a quick google search will help you get your facts straight before you start an argument.

Also - here's a pretty cool diagram - its pretty interesting to see how different maps give a slightly skewed image of the planet. http://xkcd.com/977/

 

[RoboTree]

Dammit, link didn't work
http/xkcd.com/977/