Bring up TenClock's tool tip, by moving your mouse over the clock. Then move your mouse over the Appointments area of the tool tip window to see a real-time view of the earth from space. You'll know you've moved far enough in when the arrow pointer changes to a hand:
Admittedly it's a slightly "Hollywood" view, with land, ocean bottoms, clouds, fiery sunsets, airglow, city lights, moonshine and the aurora borealis and australis each trying to look prettier than the other.
The globe will be slightly blurry for the first few seconds, and then snap into focus if you keep watching. Behind the scenes, a truly horrendous amount of processing has just taken place. To hide the globe, move your mouse away from the Appointments area.
To rotate the globe, hold your regular mouse button down while over the globe and then drag your mouse around. If you drag outside the tool tip, the globe will disappear when you release the mouse unless you move it quickly back over the globe. To return the globe to its default rotation, click-and-release on the globe.
Lighting on both globe and map is updated every minute, and the aurora images and clouds are real too, updated every three hours. The aurora colors are not real though, and reflect the intensity of the solar wind rather than actual auroral display.
To see the whole world at once, let your mouse hover over the postage-stamp sized image of the moon at the top right of the tool tip window:
And for the ultimate space experience, press the Enter key while your mouse is over the tool tip window to fill your entire screen with the globe. Press Enter again to return to your normal view.
Frequently Anticipated Questions
1 Why are there clouds?
They do obscure the land a bit - but they're just so pretty.... Give clouds a chance! OK, if you really don't want them, deselect the "Show clouds" checkbox in the Configure dialog.
2 I haven't seen any moonshine. What's up?
Be patient. When the moon is fuller....