NASA releases pic of Earth taken on New Year`s day

Zee Media Bureau\Philaso G Kaping

New Delhi: NASA has released an image of the planet Earth taken on New Year`s day by the GOES satellite. The breathtaking image shows our precious home planet in all its glory with blue being the dominant colour. The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) satellite is a weather satellite operated by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric administration. “Geostationary describes an orbit in which a satellite is always in the same position with respect to the rotating Earth. This allows GOES to hover continuously over one position on the Earth`s surface, appearing stationary,” said NASA. “As a result, GOES provide a constant vigil for the atmospheric "triggers" for severe weather conditions such as tornadoes, flash floods, hail storms, and hurricanes.” Image: NASA/NOAA GOES Project