Clouds on Earth

Clouds captured from the International Space Station on 9 September 2023 by ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen during his Huginn Mission. When Andreas shared the picture on social media, he said:

"Clouds cover an immense area of our planet every day (which can make photographing Earth frustrating at times) and play an important role in shaping the Earth’s climate.

Sunlight that hits Earth, is either absorbed by 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 planet. 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 Earth. This balance between absorbed and reflected sunlight determines the energy balance of Earth and is important for understanding Earth’s climate.

This week I will start the EarthShine experiment, where I will take photos of the Moon to measure the amount of sunlight that Earth reflects into space. Some of the reflected sunlight from Earth hits the Moon and lights up the Moon’s surface. Normally, this is difficult to see because the direct sunlight that hits the Moon outshines the Earthshine. But by taking pictures shortly before the New Moon, when the Moon is just a very thin crescent, it is possible to see the Earthshine reflected onto the Moon’s surface.

By doing this from the International Space Station, the images are undisturbed by Earth’s atmosphere"

Visit Huginn mission page to learn more about Andreas' mission.