ISS049-E-49442
| NASA Photo ID | ISS049-E-49442 |
| Focal Length | 240mm |
| Date taken | 2016.10.27 |
| Time taken | 22:29:54 GMT |
1000 x 666 pixels 540 x 360 pixels 4928 x 3280 pixels 720 x 480 pixels 4928 x 3280 pixels 640 x 426 pixels
Photo center point:
Photo center point by machine learning:
Country or Geographic Name: | ATMOSPHERIC LIMB |
Features: | SUNSET, SOUTH ATLANTIC OCEAN |
| Features Found Using Machine Learning: | PAN- |
Cloud Cover Percentage: | 10 (1-10)% |
Sun Elevation Angle: | -22° |
Sun Azimuth: | 213° |
Camera: | Nikon D4 Electronic Still Camera |
Focal Length: | 240mm |
Camera Tilt: | High Oblique |
Format: | 4928E: 4928 x 3280 pixel CMOS sensor, 36.0mm x 23.9mm, total pixels: 16.6 million, Nikon FX format |
Film Exposure: | |
| Additional Information | |
| Width | Height | Annotated | Cropped | Purpose | Links |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1000 pixels | 666 pixels | No | No | Earth From Space collection | Download Image |
| 540 pixels | 360 pixels | Yes | No | Earth From Space collection | Download Image |
| 4928 pixels | 3280 pixels | No | No | NASA's Earth Observatory web site | Download Image |
| 720 pixels | 480 pixels | No | Yes | NASA's Earth Observatory web site | Download Image |
| 4928 pixels | 3280 pixels | No | No | Download Image | |
| 640 pixels | 426 pixels | No | No | Download Image |
An astronaut aboard the International Space Station (ISS) photographed this sunset that looks like a vast sheet of flame. With the Earth's surface already in darkness, setting sun and cloud masses, and the sideways viewing angle make a powerful image, of the kind that astronauts like to take to commemorate their flights. Thin layers of lighter and darker blues reveal the many layers of the atmosphere above the lowest layer - the brown layer with its clouds and dust and smoke (known to scientists as the troposphere, the layer of weather as we experience it). It is the smoke and particles of dust in the atmosphere that give the strong red color to sunsets. Unlike most of us, astronauts see the atmosphere side-on, every 90 minutes, as in this view, with sixteen sunrises and sixteen sunsets every day. Astronauts often comment on how thin and fragile the Earth's atmosphere seems.
