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Bruce Murray Space Image Library

Earth in infrared from MESSENGER

Earth in infrared from MESSENGER
Earth in infrared from MESSENGER Spacecraft destined for other worlds sometimes test their instruments on Earth while en route. On its way to Mercury, NASA’s MESSENGER spacecraft pointed its cameras at Earth. The resulting image shows South America and portions of North America and Africa through visible and near-infrared light filters. Near-infrared light is shown as red in this image. The dense foliage of the Amazon rainforest looks strikingly red here because plants strongly reflect near-infrared light. NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory