The Highest Resolution Photograph of Earth Ever Created

*click on image for full size 8000x8000 version*

This composite image uses a number of swaths of the Earth’s surface taken on January 4, 2012.

A 'Blue Marble' image of the Earth taken from the VIIRS instrument aboard NASA's most recently launched Earth-observing satellite - Suomi NPP. This composite image uses a number of swaths of the Earth's surface taken on January 4, 2012. The NPP satellite was renamed 'Suomi NPP' on January 24, 2012 to honor the late Verner E. Suomi of the University of Wisconsin.

Suomi NPP is NASA's next Earth-observing research satellite. It is the first of a new generation of satellites that will observe many facets of our changing Earth.

To read more about NASA's Suomi NPP go to: npp.gsfc.nasa.gov/index.html