NASA Messenger - views of Earth
Posted: 10.10.2005, 09:36
Hi all,
For those interested in Earth textures have a look at the Messenger spacecraft site here:
http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/
During its recent flyby Messenger took a series of photos that were later composited into an animation and a couple of stills.
It's very rare to get color imagery of Earth outside of low orbit. While only an approximation of true color, and perhaps suffering some exposure difficulties, it's still very interesting data.
The very low albedo of the oceans is quite apparent, as is the warm-gray specular reflection of the sun off the water surfaces. This clearly demonstrates the default specular reflection color in Celestia imparts a much too blue appearance. The same physical process (Rayleigh scattering) that gives the sky its blue color is also responsible for scattering out short wavelength (violet/blue) light passing through the atmosphere, which is why the specular reflection appears this color.
When Messenger finally reaches its destination around Mercury it should provide plenty of new material for texture artists. So all you Mercury fans check back later.
Lone
For those interested in Earth textures have a look at the Messenger spacecraft site here:
http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/
During its recent flyby Messenger took a series of photos that were later composited into an animation and a couple of stills.
It's very rare to get color imagery of Earth outside of low orbit. While only an approximation of true color, and perhaps suffering some exposure difficulties, it's still very interesting data.
The very low albedo of the oceans is quite apparent, as is the warm-gray specular reflection of the sun off the water surfaces. This clearly demonstrates the default specular reflection color in Celestia imparts a much too blue appearance. The same physical process (Rayleigh scattering) that gives the sky its blue color is also responsible for scattering out short wavelength (violet/blue) light passing through the atmosphere, which is why the specular reflection appears this color.
When Messenger finally reaches its destination around Mercury it should provide plenty of new material for texture artists. So all you Mercury fans check back later.
Lone
