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July 12, 2015 4:36 PM

Japan’s new geostationary satellite Himawari-8 captures an image of Earth every 10 minutes. The New York Times combined some of them into a spectacular view of a single day over the Pacific Ocean.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken (23 comments total)

Typhoon Chan-hom was the one that hammered us here in Korea over the weekend. Doesn't look like much from 22,000 miles out.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 4:37 PM on July 12, 2015

These pictures are fantastic. The cloud patterns in the Arafura Sea and off the northern coast of New Guinea are crazy.
posted by ob1quixote at 4:49 PM on July 12, 2015

What a beautiful home we have.
posted by ogooglebar at 5:02 PM on July 12, 2015 [6 favorites]

Excuse me while I collect my jaw from the floor.
posted by slater at 5:06 PM on July 12, 2015

Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there-on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.

-Carl Sagan

(love the thread title)
posted by Inkoate at 5:36 PM on July 12, 2015 [6 favorites]

Thats what you should see when you zoom out in Google Maps.*


* One day we probably will
posted by blue_beetle at 6:21 PM on July 12, 2015 [1 favorite]

So Australia is like perpetually on fire, right?
posted by Etrigan at 6:40 PM on July 12, 2015

This is so beautiful. I'm speechless.
posted by mochapickle at 6:41 PM on July 12, 2015

So Australia is like perpetually on fire, right?

I think mostly just... rusty.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 6:48 PM on July 12, 2015 [2 favorites]

This animation very nicely accompanies the music of Tangerine Dream which I have on in the background.
posted by Ratio at 7:58 PM on July 12, 2015

OK I'm still buzzed from my absinthe cocktails and maybe that's why I'm confused, but why does it seem like the axis of rotation changes when we're watching the terminator pass over the earth surface?

And yes it is so stunningly beautiful. I wish with all of my heart that we treated her better.
posted by mondo dentro at 8:17 PM on July 12, 2015

When I look at things like this, my stomach just drops into this giant, endless pit. Thanks for posting; this is absolutely incredible to see.
posted by missmary6 at 8:26 PM on July 12, 2015

I did not expect how much of an effect this would have on me. Thank you, and thanks to the people who made this possible.
posted by wakannai at 9:10 PM on July 12, 2015

So Australia is like perpetually on fire, right?

"Perennially" may be the word you're after.
posted by pompomtom at 9:54 PM on July 12, 2015 [2 favorites]

So Australia is like perpetually on fire, right?

MY WORLD IS FIRE AND BLOOD
posted by obiwanwasabi at 10:40 PM on July 12, 2015

So Australia is like perpetually on fire, right?

Ironically, in the main video, you can see the storm dubbed "Snownami" bubbling up past Perth into the Great Australian Bight. This storm is currently bringing lots of low-level snow to Victoria and NSW! Here's another Himawari-8 video showing the storm spin its way across southern Australia.
posted by other barry at 1:29 AM on July 13, 2015

At Colorado State they've turned that feed into a website which covers more Pacific area for a more 'real-time' feed. Link includes other bandwidth shots for a more technical bent.
posted by Metro Gnome at 3:11 AM on July 13, 2015

North America has to get one of these.
posted by bonobothegreat at 3:43 AM on July 13, 2015

I'm seeing a giant scary face with whirling typhoon eyes and gaping Australian maw. If an alien race finds us right now, they might just turn around and go the other way.
posted by pracowity at 3:52 AM on July 13, 2015

Brought tears to my eyes and made my heart ache. Thank you so much for this.
posted by merelyglib at 8:21 AM on July 13, 2015

Anyone else notice the bright circle moving in the center of where the sun is shining? Is it actually brighter on the ground when that passes over?
posted by gray17 at 10:08 AM on July 13, 2015

Uh, we already have this for North America. It's called GOES. (Full disk every 30 minutes, but basically the same.)
posted by srt19170 at 12:09 PM on July 13, 2015

srt19170, you'd have to admit that the quality is a bit less.
posted by dmd at 7:29 PM on July 13, 2015