About the Above Image
This image (actually pieced together from multiple images) was acquired on
December 8, 1992, by NASA's Galileo spacecraft, as it swung by Earth on its way
out to Jupiter. It shows a wonderful but physically impossible view of the
Southern Hemisphere. A substantial fraction of the image should be in darkness,
even though the image depicts a time near the summer solstice of the Southern
Hemisphere. This view was created by patching together a mosaic of several
images taken by Galileo over a 24-hour period, and remapping them as they would
be seen from above the pole. South America, Africa, and Australia are
respectively seen at the middle left, upper right, and lower right.
Of particular interest are the beautiful cloud patterns associated with
extratropical cyclones in the storm track ringing Antarctica. This picture is
reminiscent of photos of RdishpanS experiments, in which aspects of the general
circulation are simulated in a rotating, differentially heated laboratory tank.
