15 mind-blowing images of planet Earth

(Reuters/NASA)

Thursday NASA released this stunning photo of Europe taken from its Suomi NPP satellite. The image is the result of the satellite’s Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS). The name may be a mouthful, but the images it produces make up for it. Here are some of the best photos the satellite’s taken with VIIRS since being launched three years ago.

A view of Florida and Cuba. (NASA)

Here’s the Great Lakes at night. (NASA)

A vegetation map of the Nile Delta. (NASA/NOAA)

(NASA’s NPP Land Product Evaluation and Testing Element)

The lights of Asia. (NASA)

Mexico takes center stage. (NASA/NOAA/GSFC/Suomi NPP/VIIRS/Norman Kuring)

A look at Hurricane Sandy. (NASA/NOAA/Jesse Allen)

(NASA)

A look at vegetation around the world. (NASA/NOAA)

(NASA)

The North Pole. (NASA)

The Americas after dark. (Chris Elvidge/NOAA National Geophysical Data Center)

(NASA)

A look at Europe and North Africa. (Reuters/NASA)