The first panoramic photograph of the Earth taken from above the North Pole

The "Blue Planet" photo that we are all familiar with was taken on December 7, 1972 by Apollo 17, nearly 5000 kilometers away from Earth. Through this photo, mankind saw for the first time what our planet looked like in the universe.

This photo, however, shows us what Earth looks like from another angle. This photo was taken by NASA's Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) at an altitude of 824 kilometers above the Arctic. VIIRS can capture infrared and visible light, and perform radiometric measurements of land, atmosphere, cryosphere and oceans. It can also measure cloud properties, ocean color, surface temperature of water and land, ice movement and temperature, as well as fires.

Compared to these "official tasks" of VIIRS, we prefer this "by-product" photo.