Europe ’s MSG-4 geostationary conditions planet is up and running after its launch on July 15 . Earlier today , it ’s Spinning Enhanced Visible Infrared Imager ( SEVIRI ) click its first image of Earth . And yes , we are impressed .
Although you would n’t guess it from the exquisite photo , MSG-4 is still undergo its initial commissioning and calibration phase . It wo n’t be fully operational for another six months . Once it ’s ready for prime time , it will provide weather insurance coverage over Europe and Africa every 15 bit , along with so - call “ rapid scan ” shots of Europe every five minutes .
As Bad Astronomy bloggerpoints outat Slate , the picture may be in full coloring , but it ’s not incisively what our eye would see :
Our eyes have colour sensitive cells in them ( squall strobilus ) that are capable to distinguish red , fleeceable , and blue coloring material ; every color you see is a combination of those three . MSG-4 has 12 colour sensors on instrument panel , four of which are capable to notice visible light ( the sort we see ) , and eight others that see in the infrared .
The image above is a combination of seeable and infrared visible light . The red in the picture is actually infrared light at a wavelength of 1.6 microns ( more than twice the wavelength of the reddest light you may see ) , green is 0.8 microns ( just outside our eyes ’ vision ) , and blue is 0.6 micron ( what your eye , weirdly , would see as orange ) .
The MSG-4 project is a collaboration between the European Space Agency and EUMETSAT ( the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites ) . you’re able to find out more about these 2nd generation MSG spacecrafthere .
[ EUMETSAT ]
AstronomysatellitesScienceSpace
Daily Newsletter
Get the best tech , scientific discipline , and culture news in your inbox day by day .
News from the future , delivered to your nowadays .
You May Also Like
