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Russian Satellite Takes Most Detailed 121-Megapixel Image of Earth Yet
Diggester writes "The satellite, known as Elektro-L No.1, took an image from its stationary point over 35,000 kilometers above the Indian Ocean. This is the most detailed image of the Earth yet available, capturing the Earth in a single shot with 121-megapixels. NASA satellites use a collection of pictures from multiple flybys stitched together. The detail in the pic is just amazing."
Now all I need is a 2000 inch TV to view it on. I think Weird Al knows where to get one.
Is it just me or have the poles flipped?
NASA satellites use a collection of pictures from multiple flybys stitched together.
The [Russian] satellite [...] took an image [...] capturing the Earth in a single shot with 121-megapixels.
The detail is fascinating but visually it looks terrible because it includes the infrared spectrum. It looks like a dead rock with sick black oceans. Awful.
The shadows are completely wrong. 'Nuff said.
Of the Indian Ocean. I'm sure the folks at Diego Garcia will be happy.
Also, I looked at the zoomable image and zoomed in all the way in and.... saw mostly macroblocks? Is that still "amazing detail" in a sense that eludes me?
One reason the NASA global-coverage image sets that were released in 2002 (with updates starting in 2005) have become the de-facto standard source is that: 1) anyone can download them; and 2) they're in the public domain, so anyone can use them for any purpose. You can get a bunch of versions here and from the Visible Earth site linked at the bottom of that page.
This one looks cool, but further use will be limited if the only thing I can do with it is look at it in this online zooming browser.
10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO 10
Holy chromatic aberration. You'd think an organization capable of blasting things into space could do a bit better than that.
... is that great wall supposed to be visible from space?
It is upside down. We are all going to fall off !!!
Why is it that most of the people that I encounter seem to have been shat from the Sphincter of Mediocrity?
It still only has a resolution of 1KM per pixel and the chromatic aberration is terrible.
the above is my personal opinion and does not necessarily reflect that of the little voices in my head
sky watches You!
Doing the math (~7900mi diameter, 11k pixels to a side) it turns out that each pixel covers a square that's slightly less than half a square mile (about 1.2 square kilometers).
I'm pretty sure that any one of the government satellites that are watching everything can pick out the individual hairs on my ass while I'm mooning it, which gives a resolution of closer to one pixel = 1/32 of an inch... or a 1.8-exapixel image of the Earth.
NASA's blue marble photo is what I'm used to seeing http://eoimages.gsfc.nasa.gov/images/imagerecords/57000/57723/globe_east_540.jpg
So why does it look different in Russian photos? What version is more accurate?
According to the picture, everything around me (South-Eastern Europe) should be orange! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqwJvPSiL_I
I expected the weather (by that I mean clouds) to move faster. I may just be used to seeing weather maps on the TV update in 4 hour slides. I'm sure the 100mph winds I'm looking at, at that scale is fast enough :)
This is obviously Photoshopped - everyone knows that the earth isn't upside down!
The Russian method, as linked in the article, is one large picture. It's actually a composite of different wavelengths, which is really cool. The rust effect is from the IR reflection of vegetation.
When NASA does it, as in the pictures that aren't this one, they stitch together a composite.
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ECHELON is a government program to find words like bomb, jihad, plutonium, assassinate, and anarchy.
Where's the real picture? I don't want a stinkin flash app. 16-bit PNG FTW!
now we need to go OSS in diesel cars
As a russian, I would like to take this opportunity to insolently question whether NASA still has any satellites at all, with all the funding cuts and everything.
All this time, I thought the Russians just used a pencil.
Were previous 121-MP images of the Earth not as detailed? The headline implies some kind of improvement. Is this the largest image of its kind?
The detail in the pic is just amazing.
And they still can't find Carmen Sandiego.
Shai Schticks:"You don't make peace with friends, you make peace with enemies"
As another russian, I find that funny.
We do. They work.
121 megapixels -- can any of the photo aficionados tell us how that compares with the shots of earth taken with the film cameras aboard the Apollo spacecraft? Some of those were mighty good.
capturing the Earth in a single shot
Wouldn't the satellite be able to capture only about half of Earth in a single shot?
The rust is annoying though... Because they're compressing 4 wavelengths into 3 wavelengths. An image with only the RGB would look nicer. They could store the 4th IR channel as alpha channel...
Thank you for Sputnik and Vostok.
You put the U.S. into such a panic about falling behind in science and technology that they funded my science education.
I couldn't have done it today. No more free tax-funded education. We have to go out and buy our education the free market. No more free tuition at City College. You have to be rich to study engineering in America now.
Both versions are stitched together. The Russian version stitches 121 million images with less temporal resolution.
As neither Russian nor American I find it both funny and unfunny at the same time.
Yours,
Shroedinger the Cat.
Sorry to disappoint everyone, but the Elektro-L MSU-GS sensor is a scanner, not a camera. It does not acquire 121 megapixel images instantaneously. The sensor scans a strip of imagery across the earth, and multiple scans build up the full disk image. It takes 30 minutes to scan the full disk of the Earth. This technology has been around since the late 1960's. Similar sensors are operated by a number of space agencies for real-time weather applications, e.g.
http://www.wmo.int/pages/prog/sat/Instruments_and_missions/SEVIRI.html
Our current series of geostationary weather satellites operated by NOAA have been taking images at 1 km resolution for the visible band and 4 km for four IR bands since 1995. The primary difference with Elektro is that it has more bands, two visible bands at 1 km and 8 IR bands at 4 km (which is why it looks blocky when you zoom in). A description of that imager can be found here: http://database.eohandbook.com/database/instrumentsummary.aspx?instrumentID=784 The image referenced in the article is a false color composite, which has been a common product from weather satellites (geostationary and otherwise) since we started using them decades ago. It shows vegetation more than we have seen from GOES because it has a near-IR band. GOES typically takes "full disk" images every three hours. The US has a new platform going up in 2016 with 16 bands - visible bands are 0.5 km and IR are at 1 km. That sensor will not be able to do true color (some of us fought hard for that...) but it can be simulated to an extent (the sensor will have red and blue wavelength sensing abilities, with a near-IR band allowing use of a look-up table to generate green; the surface under thin clouds, around coastal areas, and some other cases don't look quite right). Japan has bought the same sensor from the same vendor but swapped out a band and replaced it with green, so they will have true color images at roughly 22,000x22,000 pixels in the 2014-2015 time frame. This new sensor can take "full disk" images every 15 minutes (that is the scan schedule set for the US, it could go faster than that). The US took true color images from a geostationary camera on ATS-3 in the late 1960s. As far as I know no one has taken true color images from the geostationary orbit since. I haven't looked closely at Elektro data but the loop I've seen indicates light leaking into the telescope as the sun starts to light the Earth in the east (ie sunrise) - it looks like a lens flare. Many weather satellites have issues like this to some extent, but in this case it was more pronounced than I've usually seen it.
Karl Marx is forgotten so there is nothing to be affraid anymore, so you have to pay.
I zoomed in and saw the color separations, but I don't have my 3d glasses handy so I can't see the effect.
We do. They work.
Well, at least something works in Russia.
This sensor is a low-quality clone of the GOES GEO satellites flown by NASA (see ). Like the GOES imager, the Elektro-L No.1 senosr is a scanner which collects a series of sub-images over an extended period (30 minutes here, closer to 20 minutes for GOES). 1 km in the VIS, 4 km in IR is standard. These sub-images are then mosaiced together, though whole disk @ full-res in the VIS is rarely woth the trouble because the file is a bit large. Many different color-maps combining VIS & IR are used, though "True-Color" is not available (would require three VIS bands). These sensors are distantly related to those on polar-orbiting satellites (e.g., MODIS), which collect in dozens of bands with VIS resolution of 250 meters (@ nadir).
Thank you for Sputnik and Vostok.
You put the U.S. into such a panic about falling behind in science and technology that they funded my science education.
I couldn't have done it today. No more free tax-funded education. We have to go out and buy our education the free market. No more free tuition at City College. You have to be rich to study engineering in America now.
In the US, the people elect the government.
The rust is annoying though... Because they're compressing 4 wavelengths into 3 wavelengths. An image with only the RGB would look nicer. They could store the 4th IR channel as alpha channel...
No matter which way you "look" at something you are either compressing or ignoring some quality of light. The "art" of astrophotography is therefore about how much information you intend to leave out and how much you squeeze into the narrow bands of light we humans can perceive. If you are not happy with the rendering, you might be able to source the uncompressed scientific data -- which will still only ever contain partial-information due to optical, CCD and other limitations -- and render it yourself... Assuming Roskosmos make their equivalent of FITS data available to the public like NASA does.
yeah, the party chiefs, you mean.
The Russian people do indeed work, almost to the point of slavery, some may say. But like in most of the world, you don't really see that, you see the rich and uncaring assholes.
In the US, the people elect the government.
Only the people with lots of money.
I thought you were dead, but I never looked...
I say "way to go Rooskies!"
Pay no mind to the fools who can't get past the spectral mapping.
I am very small, utmostly microscopic.
There has to be one in there somewhere! Quick, get a army of volunteers to go over it! Not that I am trying to keep anyone from playing Diablo 3 tonight after midnight. Has nothing to do with this..honest.
"Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your politician, and hitting them?"
That light-dark cycle has been going on for billions of years, ceaselessly, perfectly. An amazing machine.
The importance of perspective is underscored as well. From the geostationary satellite, it looks as though the earth is still. And it is - from that perspective. From the perspective of other universal bodies however, the earth is moving.
Kudos to the Russkies for capturing this perspective and to James Drake for creating the video.
Suddenly, I'm concerned that we don't have enough protection against mind worms.
Do you want a 120+ Mpixel image of Earth taken in one shot? It is easy. Just send large format analog camera (small old 1960-ish Graflex will do) to the space station, load modern Ektar 100 film and enjoy superb quality. But you have to be patient and wait until the camera return to the Earth... ;)
Where are all of the lines for the countries?
whoooshhh.........