Even from 512 miles up, Sandy looks scary.
NASA has released dazzling night images made by a satellite high over the Earth’s surface that provide a look of Frankenstorm Sandy illuminated by moonlight as she makes landfall over New Jersey on the evening of Oct. 29.
The ‘’Black Marble’’ look at night lights across the Earth are composite images assembled from data captured by a new sensor aboard the NASA-NOAA Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership satellite, which was launched last year.
The sensor is so sensitive, it can spot “the light from a single ship in the sea,’’ NASA said.
The sensor, which is the “day-night band of the visible infrared imaging radiometer suite,’’ also caught a nighttime look at the Nile River Valley and Delta and the post-Sandy darkness caused by widespread power outages.
NASA said the goal of the project is to improve weather forecasts and get data that help understand long-term climate changes.