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Full Moon Shines Bright on Black Friday

November 23, 2018
Image of a stunning moonlit view of the Northeast

The polar-orbiting NOAA/NASA Suomi NPP satellite’s day-night band captured this stunning moonlit view of the Northeast on Friday, Nov. 23, 2018 at 2:05 a.m. ET. Under the glow of the nearly full moon, the clouds and landscape appear especially bright.Although the full moon illuminated the way for Black Friday shoppers, many had to brave record-low temperatures across the northern mid-Atlantic and Northeast. Temperatures are expected to remain below normal through Saturday, but the National Weather Service (NWS) is forecasting near average temperatures to return for the region by Sunday.The Northeast isn’t the only part of the country experiencing below-normal temperatures on Black Friday. In the central U.S., temperatures are also running 5 to 15 degrees below normal, according to the NWS. In other words, if you’re kicking off your holiday shopping this weekend, it’s time to bundle up!The day-night band of the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) sensor, also on-board the NOAA-20 satellite that launched in November 2017, is sensitive enough to detect the nocturnal glow produced by Earth's atmosphere and the light from a single ship at sea.