NASA released this "blue marble" picture two days ago. It was taken by the Visible/Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) aboard NASA's most recently launched Earth-observing satellite, Suomi NPP, named in honor of the late Verner E. Suomi of the University of Wisconsin.
Granted, there's a fair amount of distortion in this—Mexico isn't actually as big as South America—but it's beautiful. There's a very large version available for download at the NPP page at nasa.gov.
Vern Suomi, considered the father of satellite meteorology, invented the device that for many years showed us those moving cloud- and weather-progression images on the evening news.
Mike
(Thanks to Doug Dolde)
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Original contents copyright 2011 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved.
Featured Comment by Goff: "This is a worthy tribute to Vern Suomi, who was a good friend and colleague.
"In the early '70s he invented a method to measure the wind in the tropics from the difference in position of clouds in successive frames from a geostationary satellite (like this one which is named after him, but much less capable, 40 years ago).
"His technique was taken off the shelf when the alternative French method based on balloon drift failed spectacularly leaving a massive gap in the Global Weather Experiment. Suomi's method saved the day. It is still used routinely by weather forecasters. He would have loved this picture."
