Astronaut Andreas Mogensen took to Instagram to share two incredible pictures of the Earth taken from the International Space Station (ISS). He also wrote a descriptive caption to explain how it is often “frustrating” to click pictures of the blue planet from space because of the clouds.
“Clouds cover an immense area of our planet every day (which can make photographing the Earth frustrating at times) and play an important role in shaping the Earth’s climate. Sunlight that hits the Earth, is either absorbed by the Earth or reflected back into space. When sunlight is absorbed, it heats up the planet. Hence, when more sunlight is reflected back into space, there is less energy to heat the Earth,” the astronaut wrote.
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“Clouds are one of the primary features that reflect sunlight back into space, together with snow and ice-covered ground. Thus, the amount of cloud cover and the amount of ground covered by glaciers, snow, and ice determine how much sunlight is reflected into space and thus, how much energy is available from the sun to heat the Earth. This balance between absorbed and reflected sunlight determines the energy balance of the Earth and is important for understanding Earth’s climate,” Mogensen added.
Take a look at these amazing pictures of the Earth:
The post was shared three days ago. Since being posted, the share has received close to 9,000 likes. The post has also prompted people to share varied comments.
{{/usCountry}}The post was shared three days ago. Since being posted, the share has received close to 9,000 likes. The post has also prompted people to share varied comments.
{{/usCountry}}“Wow, just wow,” wrote an Instagram user. “They are simply amazing,” added another. “It is so exciting,” joined a third.