Satellite view of Earth

http://www.nesdis.noaa.gov/DSCOVR/

They had only one thing to do and they can't do it.

To create an additional overlay of longitude and maintain the fully illuminated face of the Earth as an underlying reference, the polar latitudes would be seen to move across the face of the Earth parallel to the orbital plane.

The technological marvel of the telescope looking back at the Earth is not matched by the astronomical underpinnings.

The only thing they could possibly do wrong they did -

http://www.nesdis.noaa.gov/DSCOVR/

This is what I mean by a Lat/Long overlay -

http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/...mericas250.jpg

All this time looking for a satellite to look back at a rotating Earth and they go ahead and do this !.

oriel36 wrote:
The only thing they could possibly do wrong they did -

http://www.nesdis.noaa.gov/DSCOVR/

This is what I mean by a Lat/Long overlay -

http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/...mericas250.jpg

All this time looking for a satellite to look back at a rotating Earth
and they go ahead and do this !.



Only those with impaired visual imaginations need such props. That white
bit at the bottom is Antarctica. You will see it in the southern summer but
not in the southern winter. The opposite holds for the North pole.

The graphic shows the right orientation but the actual imaging doesn't -

http://epic.gsfc.nasa.gov/

Over the next 5 months the South pole, even though technically out of sight in the imaging, will march directly across the fully illuminated face of the Earth as the planet moves through space and turns unevenly to the central Sun as it does so.

By right it should be both a triumph of technological achievement and human reasoning but with everyone still stuck with a 'tilting' Earth the whole thing becomes diminished.

oriel36 wrote:
The graphic shows the right orientation but the actual imaging doesn't -

http://epic.gsfc.nasa.gov/

Over the next 5 months the South pole, even though technically out of
sight in the imaging, will march directly across the fully illuminated
face of the Earth as the planet moves through space and turns unevenly to
the central Sun as it does so.

By right it should be both a triumph of technological achievement and
human reasoning but with everyone still stuck with a 'tilting' Earth the
whole thing becomes diminished.


Learn to use your eyes. The orientation is the same. Look at the individual
images not the slideshow.

From that perspective where a satellite is co-moving with the Earth, albeit in an inner and slower orbital circuit, a location on the surface crossing the path of the satellite will be not be 24 hours but vary with each individual pass.

The dual surface rotations to the central Sun are actual, will now be observable and with tangible effects in isolation and in combination.

http://epic.gsfc.nasa.gov/

It may be that the optimism is misplaced nevertheless, despite present company, students will some day appreciate through this type of imaging what is behind the seasons, Arctic sea ice evolution, variations in each individual noon cycle, what defines climate through planetary comparisons and the many other topics that will be enjoyed as a matter of course.

I suppose you would all be content with the old explanation for the seasons using the motion of the Sun and a tilting circle of illumination -

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=52248

It would be nice to meet a person who wasn't interested in making a mockery of astronomy and its relationship to terrestrial sciences and how we experience the motions of the planets as decent adults.

The new satellite affords a genuine way to approach such things as the seasons and climate but then again that relies solely on responsible people who genuinely care how we represent our era and teach students.

Having established the fully illuminated face as a fixed feature for the annual motion of the Earth, at the September Equinox the continents will be seen to move from SW to NE -

http://epic.gsfc.nasa.gov/

At the March Equinox and as the planet turns as a function of its orbital motion, the continents will be seen to move from NW to SE.

A longitudinal overlay on the satellite images would be helpful as well as a defining line running North to South and coincident with the circle of illumination , something like the following image except the line runs through the center of the fully illuminated face -

http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/...mericas250.jpg