Fresh space images. Space photography. Google Maps - high resolution view from space

They allow obtaining spatial information about the earth's surface in the visible and infrared ranges of electromagnetic wavelengths. They are capable of detecting passive reflected radiation from the earth's surface in the visible and near infrared ranges. In such systems, the radiation hits the appropriate sensors that generate electrical signals depending on the intensity of the radiation.

In optoelectronic remote sensing systems, as a rule, sensors with continuous line-by-line scanning are used. Can be distinguished linear, transverse and longitudinal scanning.

The total scan angle across the route is called the angle of view, and the corresponding value on the surface of the Earth is bandwidth.

Part of the data stream received from the satellite is called a scene. The schemes for cutting the stream into scenes, as well as their size for different satellites, differ.

Optical-electronic ERS systems carry out surveys in the optical range of electromagnetic waves.

Panchromatic the images occupy almost the entire visible range of the electromagnetic spectrum (0.45-0.90 microns), therefore they are black and white.

Multispectral(multispectral) imaging systems generate multiple individual images for broad spectral areas ranging from visible to infrared electromagnetic radiation. At present, multispectral data from new-generation spacecraft, including RapidEye (5 spectral zones) and WorldView-2 (8 zones), are of the greatest practical interest.

New generation satellites of high and ultra-high resolution, as a rule, survey in panchromatic and multispectral modes.

Hyperspectral imaging systems form images simultaneously for narrow spectral zones in all parts of the spectral range. For hyperspectral imaging, it is not the number of spectral zones (channels) that is important, but the width of the zone (the smaller, the better) and the sequence of measurements. So, a survey system with 20 channels will be hyperspectral if it covers the range of 0.50-070 microns, while the width of each spectral zone is not more than 0.01 microns, and a survey system with 20 separate channels covering the visible region of the spectrum , near, shortwave, mid and far infrared regions, will be considered multispectral.

Spatial resolution- a value that characterizes the size of the smallest objects distinguishable in the image. The factors affecting the spatial resolution are the parameters of the optoelectronic or radar system, as well as the orbital altitude, that is, the distance from the satellite to the object being surveyed. The best spatial resolution is obtained when shooting in nadir, while deviating from nadir the resolution deteriorates. Space images can be of low (over 10 m), medium (10 to 2.5 m), high (2.5 to 1 m), and ultra-high (less than 1 m) resolution.

Radiometric resolution is determined by the sensitivity of the sensor to changes in the intensity of electromagnetic radiation. It is determined by the number of gradations of color values ​​corresponding to the transition from the brightness of absolutely "black" to absolutely "white", and is expressed in the number of bits per pixel in the image. This means that in the case of a radiometric resolution of 6 bits / pixel, we have only 64 color gradations, 8 bits / pixel - 256 gradations, 11 bits / pixel - 2048 gradations.

Take a moment to enjoy viewing 25 truly breathtaking photographs of the Earth and the Moon from space.

This photograph of Earth was taken by the Apollo 11 astronauts on July 20, 1969.

Spacecrafts launched by mankind enjoy a view of the Earth from a distance of thousands and millions of kilometers.

Photographed by Suomi NPP, an American meteorological satellite operated by NOAA.
Date: April 9, 2015

NASA and NOAA created this composite image using photographs taken from the Suomi NPP weather satellite, which orbits the Earth 14 times a day.

Their endless observations allow us to track the state of our world in the rare position of the Sun, Moon and Earth.

Taken by the DSCOVR spacecraft for observing the Sun and Earth.
Date: March 9, 2016

The DSCOVR spacecraft captured 13 images of the lunar shadow traveling across the Earth during the 2016 total solar eclipse.

But the deeper we go into space, the more we are fascinated by the sight of the Earth.

Taken by the Rosetta spacecraft.
Date: November 12, 2009

The Rosetta spacecraft is designed to study comet 67P / Churyumov-Gerasimenko. In 2007, he made a soft landing on the surface of a comet. The main probe of the device completed its flight on September 30, 2016. This photo shows the South Pole and sunlit Antarctica.

Our planet looks like a brilliant blue marble shrouded in a thin, almost invisible layer of gas.

Photographed by the Apollo 17 crew
Date: December 7, 1972

The crew of the Apollo 17 spacecraft took this photograph, titled "The Blue Marble", during their last manned flight to the Moon. This is one of the most common snapshots of all time. It was filmed at a distance of about 29 thousand km from the Earth's surface. Africa is visible at the top left of the image and Antarctica at the bottom.

And she drifts alone in the blackness of space.

Photographed by the Apollo 11 crew.
Date: July 20, 1969

The crew of Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin took this picture during a flight to the Moon at a distance of about 158 ​​thousand km from Earth. Africa is visible in the frame.

Almost alone.

Approximately twice a year, the Moon passes between the DSCOVR satellite and its main object of observation, the Earth. Then we get a rare opportunity to look at the far side of our satellite.

The moon is a cold stone ball 50 times smaller than the earth. She is our biggest and closest heavenly friend.

Photographed by William Anders as part of the Apollo 8 crew.
Date: December 24, 1968.

The famous "Earthrise" photograph taken from the Apollo 8 spacecraft.

According to one hypothesis, the Moon formed after proto-earth collided with a planet the size of Mars about 4.5 billion years ago.

Photographed by Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO, Lunar Orbital Probe).
Date: 12 October 2015

In 2009, NASA launched the LRO, an unmanned interplanetary probe looking at the cratered surface of the Moon, but seized the moment to capture this modern version of Earth Rising.

Since the 1950s, humanity has been launching humans and robots into space.

Taken with Lunar Orbiter 1.
Date: 23 August 1966

The automated unmanned spacecraft Lunar Orbiter 1 captured this photo while searching for a landing site on the moon.

Our exploration of the moon is a mixture of technological conquest ...

Photographed by Michael Collins of the Apollo 11 crew.
Date: July 21, 1969

The Eagle, the Apollo 11 lunar module, is returning from the lunar surface.

and irrepressible human curiosity ...

Taken by the Chang "e 5-T1" lunar apparatus.
Date: October 29, 2014

A rare view of the far side of the moon taken by the China National Space Administration's lunar probe.

and looking for extreme adventures.

Photographed by the Apollo 10 crew.
Date: May 1969

This video was filmed by astronauts Thomas Stafford, John Young and Eugene Cernan during their Apollo 10 test flight to the moon (no landing). To get such an image of Earth Rise is possible only from a moving ship.

It always seems that the Earth is not far from the Moon.

Taken with the Clementine 1 probe.
Date: 1994

The Clementine mission was launched on January 25, 1994, as part of a joint initiative between NASA and the North American Aerospace Defense Command. On May 7, 1994, the probe went out of control, but previously transmitted this image, in which the Earth and the north pole of the moon are visible.

Photographed by Mariner 10 station.
Date: November 3, 1973

A combination of two photographs (one of the Earth, the other of the Moon) taken by NASA's Mariner 10 robotic interplanetary station, which was launched to Mercury, Venus and the Moon using an intercontinental ballistic missile.

the more amazing our house looks ...

Taken by the Galileo spacecraft.
Date: December 16, 1992

On the way to study Jupiter and its moons, NASA's Galileo spacecraft captured this composite image. The moon, whose brightness is about three times lower than that of the Earth, is in the foreground, closer to the viewer.

and the more lonely he seems.

Captured by NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous Shoemaker.
Date: January 23, 1998

NASA's NEAR spacecraft, sent in 1996 to the asteroid Eros, captured these images of the Earth and the Moon. Antarctica is visible at the South Pole of our planet.

Most images do not accurately represent the distance between the Earth and the Moon.

Taken by the Voyager 1 automatic probe.
Date: September 18, 1977

Most of the photographs of the Earth and the Moon are composite images made up of multiple images, since the objects are far from each other. But above, you see the first photograph in which our planet and its natural satellite are captured in one frame. The picture was taken by the Voyager 1 probe on its way to its "big tour" in the solar system.

Only after overcoming hundreds of thousands or even millions of kilometers, and then returning back, we can truly appreciate the distance that lies between the two worlds.

Photographed by the Mars-Express automatic interplanetary station.
Date: July 3, 2003

European automatic interplanetary station space agency Mars Express, heading towards Mars, took this picture of the Earth at a distance of millions of kilometers.

This is a huge and empty space.

Taken by NASA's Mars Odyssey Orbiter.
Date: April 19, 2001

This infrared photograph, taken from a distance of 2.2 million km, shows the huge distance between the Earth and the Moon - about 385 thousand kilometers, or about 30 Earth diameters. The Mars Odyssey spacecraft captured this image on its way to Mars.

But even together, the Earth-Moon system looks insignificant in deep space.

Photographed by NASA's unmanned interplanetary station Juno.
Date: August 26, 2011.

NASA's Juno spacecraft captured this image during its nearly 5-year journey to Jupiter, where it is exploring the gas giant.

From the surface of Mars, our planet appears to be just another "star" in the night sky, which puzzled early astronomers.

Taken by the Spirit Mars Exploration Rover.
Date: March 9, 2004

About two months after landing on Mars, the Spirit rover captured a photograph of Earth looking like a tiny dot. NASA says it is "the first ever picture of the Earth taken from the surface of another planet outside the Moon."

Earth is lost in Saturn's shining ice rings.

Photographed by the automated interplanetary station Cassini.
Date: September 15, 2006

NASA's Cassini space station snapped 165 photographs in the shadow of Saturn to compose this mosaic backlit image of the gas giant. The Earth has crept into the image on the left.

At a distance of billions of kilometers from the Earth, as Carl Sagan sarcastically noted, our world is just a "pale blue dot", a small and lonely ball on which all our triumphs and tragedies are played out.

Taken by the Voyager 1 automatic probe.
Date: February 14, 1990

This shot of the Earth is one of the frames in a series of “portraits Solar system", Which Voyager 1 made at a distance of about 4 billion miles from home.

From Sagan's speech:

“There is probably no better demonstration of stupid human conceit than this detached view of our tiny world. It seems to me that it emphasizes our responsibility, our duty to be kinder to each other, to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot - our only home. "

Sagan's message is invariable: there is only one Earth, so we must do everything in our power to protect it, to protect it mainly from ourselves.

The Japanese artificial lunar satellite Kaguya (also known as SELENE) captured this video of Earth ascending over the Moon at 1000% acceleration in time for the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 8 crew of Earth Rising.

Many users are interested in online satellite maps, which make it possible to enjoy the view of our planet's favorite places from a bird's eye view. There are a lot of such services on the web, and all of their diversity should not be misleading - most of these sites use the classic API from "Google Maps". However, there are also a number of resources that use their own tools to create high quality satellite maps. In this article, I will talk about the best high resolution satellite maps available online in 2017-2018, and also explain how to use them.

What you need to know about online satellite maps?

When creating satellite maps of the earth's surface, both images from space satellites and photos from special aircraft, allowing to carry out photography at a bird's-eye flight (250-500 meters).

The satellite maps of the highest resolution created in this way are regularly updated, and usually images from them are no more than 2-3 years old.

Most of the network services do not have the ability to create their own satellite maps. Usually they use maps from other, more powerful services (usually Google Maps). At the same time, at the bottom (or at the top) of the screen, you can find a mention of the copyright of any company to demonstrate these cards.

Viewing satellite maps in real time is now not available to the average user, since such tools are used primarily for military purposes. Users have access to maps, photos for which were taken over the past months (or even years). It should be understood that any military objects may be deliberately retouched in order to hide them from interested parties.

Let's move on to describing the services that allow us to enjoy the capabilities of satellite maps.

Google Maps - high resolution view from space

Bing Maps - online satellite maps service

Among the cartographic online services decent quality cannot be ignored by the Bing Maps service, which is the brainchild of Microsoft. Like the other resources I have described, this site provides quite high quality photos surfaces created using satellite and aerial photography.

Bing Maps is one of the most popular mapping services in the United States.

The functionality of the service is similar to the analogs already described above:

At the same time, using the search button, you can determine the online location of a specific satellite, and by clicking on any satellite on the map, you will receive brief information about it (country, size, launch date, and so on).

Conclusion

To display high-resolution satellite maps online, you should use one of the network solutions I have listed. The most popular on a global scale is the Google Maps service, so I recommend using this resource to work with satellite maps online. If you are interested in viewing geolocations on the territory of the Russian Federation, then it is better to use the Yandex.Maps toolkit. The frequency of their updates in the relations of our country exceeds that of Google Maps.

Incredible facts

Death is a special topic for every person. There is something sinister about her that makes us cringe, although she will not threaten us anytime soon. However, people have learned to put up with death. They just accept it and don't think about it.

Everyone knows that death cannot be avoided, and nothing can be done about it. However, not every death happens routinely. The departure of some people leaves behind more questions than answers, and this is clearly visible in their photographs.

We're talking about photographs that were taken shortly before death. If you look closely, you can see the approach of death. So there they are.

Latest photos

1. Justus Belfield, a WWII US veteran, donned the uniform he fought in to take the last photo before his death. The man was 98 years old.

2. This photo is believed to be the last in the life of Adolf Hitler. On April 30, 1945, he committed suicide in a bunker outside Berlin.

3. Filipino MP Reynald Dagsa photographs his wife, daughter and mother-in-law, and his killer accidentally got into the frame. The latter just got out of the car and aimed the weapon at a 35-year-old man. Moments later, Dugsa was killed.

5. This photo of English singer Amy Winehouse was taken one week before her death in 2011. She is walking down the street outside her London apartment. Amy died of alcohol poisoning, having gone into a long binge. The girl was 27 years old.

6. The photo shows a 17-year-old boy, Andrei Retrovsky, who wanted to take a staged shot of the fall. But a few seconds after the photo was taken, the guy fell off the roof. The belaying rope could not stand it, its straps broke, and Andrey was killed.

7. A few hours before her death, Stephanie Hernandez, a 21-year-old US resident, posted this photo of her boyfriend aiming at her with a weapon. She was shot in the head that evening.

Latest lifetime photos

8. Pop legend Michael Jackson died in his sleep on June 25, 2009 after taking too strong a dose of sleeping pills. This photo was taken at the last rehearsal of the Jackson show in Los Angeles. The star planned to go on tour around the world.

9. Has anyone ever thought that the most cheerful person was so unhappy? The first photo was taken the day before Robin Williams died at a party at his house. The second - a few days before the suicide. Robin suffered from a rare form of dementia that prevented him from living normally. The 63-year-old comedian committed suicide on August 11, 2014.

10. This photograph was the last in the life of the great singer Whitney Houston. On February 11, 2012, Whitney left the Grammy awards rehearsal and headed to her hotel. Two days later, she was found dead in the bathroom.

11. Robert Kennedy was the brother of the assassinated John F. Kennedy and a Senator from New York State. He was shot on June 6, 1968. This scary photo was taken just after Robert was shot three times at point-blank range by a 24-year-old Palestinian.

Latest photos of stars

12. Two years before the tragic death of Freddie Mercury, his band stopped live performances. All because of his difficult physical condition, and also because before his death he really wanted to record more new songs.

For the last album, black and white clips were filmed, which helped to hide Freddie's emaciated body. This photo was made before the singer made the following press statement:

“There have been rumors in the press for a long time, and I want to confirm: there is HIV in my blood, I have AIDS. I did not expand on this in order to preserve the peace of mind of my relatives and friends. But the time has come to tell my friends and fans about it. I believe that everyone will join the fight against this terrible disease. "

Less than a day after this statement, Freddie died of pneumonia provoked by AIDS.

13. In the summer of 2017, legendary Linkin Park singer Chester Bennington committed suicide by hanging in his apartment in the Los Angeles suburbs. The 41-year-old singer was married for the second time, he had six children, but this did not prevent severe depression from eating him from the inside. The musician was also a drug addict, and often talked about the arrival of internal demons when they give up.

This photo was taken shortly before the suicide while on vacation with his family, and it was this photo that served as the impetus for the flash mob "The Face of Depression". As part of this flash mob, a huge number of people published their funny and happy photos, which cannot be used to say that the person is actually thinking about suicide and is very exhausted.

Last photos during his lifetime

14. In this photo, Marilyn Monroe is having a good time with Buddy Greco, who was a jazz pianist. The action takes place in early August 1962. A few hours later, on the night of August 5, the body of the star was found in her house. Marilyn poisoned herself with barbiturates.

A reliable fact: the last few years of her life, the actress used stimulants and sedatives, as she was in a neurotic state. These facts fully justify the version of suicide, but many experts believe that someone else is behind the death of Marilyn.

15. Steve Jobs lost in the fight against pancreatic cancer on October 5, 2011. This photo is one of the last. Steve's family said that his last words were: "Wow, wow."

16. This photo shows Heath Ledger filming his latest film, The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus. He played the main role there, but he could not finish filming. On January 22, 2008, the actor was found lifeless in a hotel room. His heart broke down due to the fact that the last few months of his life he used a lot of sleeping pills, painkillers and tranquilizers.

The director of the film did not abandon his brainchild, finding an original way out and altering the plot. The hero of Hit falls into another dimension, in which he changes his appearance several times. Colin Farrell, Johnny Depp and Jude Law agreed to help Ledger finish the game. The actors donated the royalties received for the film to Heath's little daughter Matilda.

Last photos before death

17. This photo shows the great scientist Nikola Tesla. This is his last known image. Nicola died in a hotel in 1943, all alone. His contribution to the creation of AC devices cannot be overemphasized. In addition, he was a good physicist, engineer and inventor.

By the end of his life, Nikola became impoverished, ate very poorly. All day he sat in the park and fed the pigeons, and at night he worked on mathematical formulas and equations.

18. In December 2015, the premiere of the musical by the talented musician "Lazar" took place. This was his last public appearance. The singer fought cancer for more than a year, and at the end of the struggle he already knew perfectly well that he would soon leave. His latest album “Blackstar” has a lot of themes about death.

19. This photograph belongs to the American traveler Christopher McCandless, who went to Alaska, or rather to its uninhabited part, taking with him the minimum amount of food. He relied on the fact that he could feed on his own. The photo was found in his camera.

Four months after the start of the trip, the guy died of exhaustion. Later, a book was written about him and the film "Into the Wild" was shot.

20. The last photo of Mohammed Ali was taken by his daughter on May 22, 2016. On June 2, Ali was admitted to the hospital with a respiratory illness, and a day after a sharp deterioration in his condition, he died of septic shock.

The athlete has suffered from Parkinson's disease since 1984, but until his last days he tried to lead a normal life. He was 74 years old.

Latest celebrity photos

21. This photo was taken in October 2016 for the launch of his latest album in Los Angeles. Leonard Cohen died at the age of 82 from cancer, but he left very peacefully, in his sleep. The musician died 3 weeks after the photo was taken.

22. This picture was taken several months before the 36-year-old musician Bob Marley died of cancer. At the time of filming, he weighed 35 kg, and died in 1981.

23. This photograph was taken on the last official shoot of Nirvana, approximately 5 months before the death of Kurt Cobain. The musician was deeply depressed and suffered from heroin addiction. In April 1994, he shot himself with a gun in his own home. Kurt was 27 years old.

24. Young Russian actor Anton Yelchin died in an accident under the wheels of his own car. This photo is the last in the life of a 27-year-old actor, which he published on the network three days before his death.

25. This photo was taken in May 1923 and is known as last snapshot Vladimir Lenin. By this time, Lenin had already gone through three strokes, as a result of which he lost his speech and was partially paralyzed.