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| [PHOTO: NASA] |
Washington: A stunning array of images of our home planet, taken by
Earth-observing science satellites, are featured in a new NASA publication. The
book, "Earth as Art," is available in hardcover, electronically, and
as a free iPad application.
The 158-page book
celebrates the aesthetic beauty of Earth in the patterns, shapes, colors and
textures of the land, oceans, ice and atmosphere. Images include snow-capped
mountain peaks in the Himalayas, Arizona's Painted Desert, the Mississippi
River Delta spreading into the Gulf of Mexico, a Saharan dune sea in Algeria,
and Byrd Glacier in Antarctica.
"Earth as
Art" features images from the Landsat 5 and 7, Terra, Aqua, and Earth
Observing-1 (EO-1) satellites. All are among a fleet of U.S. environmental
satellites used for scientific research and applied purposes. Instruments on
these satellites measure light outside of the visible range. The images
produced from these data reveal features and patterns not always visible to the
naked eye. The Terra, Aqua, and EO-1 satellites are managed by NASA. Landsat
satellites are managed by the U.S. Geological Survey.
The iPad version of
"Earth as Art" allows users to zoom into the book's 75 satellite
images and access additional information on selected features and the
satellites used.