All articles tagged with #earth from space
A 1.15-mile-wide, incomplete crater in Heilongjiang, China—the Yilan crater—is believed to be the youngest major impact structure on Earth, dating roughly 46,000–53,000 years ago. Discovered in 2021 after forest cover concealed it, the ringed feature is the largest known crater of its age and could be younger than Barringer Crater, though age estimates remain uncertain.
A 2010 astronaut photo from the ISS highlights the Great Dyke of Zimbabwe—a 342-mile-long, 2.5-billion-year-old lopolith rich in platinum, chromite and other metals—making it one of Earth's oldest and most mineral-rich igneous intrusions and a major mining hotspot along its length.
NASA and CNES’s SWOT mission has produced the first global, space-based estimate of river discharge and suspended sediment using the KaRIn radar. The global map, derived from SWOT data, highlights river networks around the world (rivers wider than ~50 meters) and fills gaps left by ground sensors, aiding flood forecasting, water management, and understanding how rivers transport nutrients and pollutants.
Polish ESA astronaut Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski spent 20 days aboard the International Space Station for the Ax-4 Ignis mission, filming a nine-minute timelapse from the Cupola that shows Earth’s atmosphere and the Moon rising. ESA released the clips alongside a hands-on science agenda—13 Polish-institution experiments and 3 ESA-led studies—underscoring international collaboration and tech development for future space missions; the Ax-4 mission launched June 25, 2025 aboard a SpaceX Dragon.
An astronaut captured a striking image of the unique convergence point where a glacier, a turquoise lake, and a river meet in Los Glaciares National Park, Argentina, highlighting the rare non-retreating Perito Moreno Glacier and the dynamic hydrological features in the region.
An astronaut aboard the ISS captured a stunning nighttime image of Earth showing city lights, moonglint, and airglow, highlighting human settlements and natural phenomena from space, with implications for environmental and oceanographic research.
An astronaut photograph from 2023 captures a trio of ancient black mesas in the Sahara, surrounded by unique sand dunes formed by wind patterns, remnants of a Paleozoic-era geological system possibly similar to the 'Eye of the Sahara'.
In 1990, Voyager 1 took a historic photo of Earth from 3.7 billion miles away, depicting our planet as a tiny, fragile speck in the vast cosmos, inspiring reflections on our place in the universe and the importance of caring for our home, a moment famously encapsulated by Carl Sagan's 'Pale Blue Dot'.
The Marree Man is a mysterious, 2-mile-tall geoglyph in the Australian outback depicting an Aboriginal hunter, created around 1998 with unknown origins, and recently re-carved to preserve it from erosion, with theories suggesting it was made by artists or military personnel.
An astronaut photo from the ISS captures the skull-like appearance of the Trou au Natron caldera in Chad's Sahara, shaped by volcanic activity and natural mineral deposits, revealing a striking geological formation from space.
A satellite image captures the striking contrast between a field of 'star dunes' in Algeria and rocky terrain in Libya within the Sahara Desert, highlighting geological and ecological interactions shaped over millions of years, with the border between the two countries running through the scene.
Photographers and astronauts Don Pettit and Babak Tafreshi collaborated to capture Earth from above and below, showcasing the planet's natural beauty and phenomena from the International Space Station and ground-based locations, highlighting the unique perspectives and the importance of human-led space photography.
An astronaut photograph captures two volcanic lakes on Nicaragua's Chiltepe Peninsula resembling googly eyes from space, highlighting their unique appearance and volcanic activity history, with the lakes' colors and sizes creating a striking optical illusion.
A NASA astronaut captured an image of a forest in Idaho that appears as a giant chessboard from space, due to a 200-year-old grid-based land management system involving alternating clearings and replanting, accentuated by snow and seasonal changes.
An astronaut photograph captures a large, slug-shaped sand dune field in Kazakhstan's Kazakh Steppe, which is gradually being stabilized by vegetation, potentially halting its movement due to plant growth, with future changes uncertain.