Astronaut Photography

Cupola Over the Caribbean
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Cupola Over the Caribbean

Clouds trace the islands and color variations trace the seafloor.

Published Sep 20, 2020

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Moraleda Channel, Chile
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Moraleda Channel, Chile

Carved out by ancient glaciers, this portion of the coastal Andes is rich with glacial fjords, complex shorelines, active volcanoes, and marine life.

Published Sep 13, 2020

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Swirls in the Southern Caspian
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Swirls in the Southern Caspian

The inland sea in central Asia has a distinct circulation.

Published Sep 6, 2020

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Charleston, West Virginia
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Charleston, West Virginia

Nestled in a river valley in the Allegheny Mountains, the city first attracted weary travelers, who then stayed for the salt, trees, and coal.

Published Aug 30, 2020

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Lighthouse Reef and the Great Blue Hole
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Lighthouse Reef and the Great Blue Hole

This marine wonder off of Belize is rich with mystery and biodiversity.

Published Aug 23, 2020

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Aurora, Meet Airglow
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Aurora, Meet Airglow

The colors and altitude are often the same, but the atmospheric processes are different.

Published Aug 16, 2020

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Xiamen and Quanzhou
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Xiamen and Quanzhou

Bright lights of these coastal cities of China are sandwiched between mountains and the sea.

Published Aug 9, 2020

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Cooper Creek, Australia
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Cooper Creek, Australia

The combination of stable, ancient dunes and water channels displaying both braided and cross-connecting patterns make this region a planetary analogue for Mars.

Published Aug 2, 2020

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Death Valley Landscapes
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Death Valley Landscapes

The area is known for its extreme dryness and dangerous heat records. However, traces on the land indicate that water sometimes flows here.

Published Jul 26, 2020

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Comet NEOWISE Brightens the Night
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Comet NEOWISE Brightens the Night

In July 2020, sky gazers on Earth and on the International Space Station had a front row seat to one of the brightest comets in decades.

Published Jul 18, 2020

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Meandering Mississippi River
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Meandering Mississippi River

The wandering river is a boon to farming, but it has no interest in state borders.

Published Jul 19, 2020

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Lake Rukwa, Tanzania
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Lake Rukwa, Tanzania

One of the smaller lakes of the East African Rift is rich with mud, fish, and geologic beauty.

Published Jul 12, 2020

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Pacific Northwest Bathed in Green and White
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Pacific Northwest Bathed in Green and White

The Olympic Peninsula, Cascade Mountains, and Salish Sea caught the eye of an astronaut on the space station.

Published Jul 4, 2020

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Ankara at Night
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Ankara at Night

Bright shades of white and yellow light up the geographic and political heart of Turkey.

Published Jun 28, 2020

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An Astronaut’s View of an Annular Eclipse
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An Astronaut’s View of an Annular Eclipse

An astronaut aboard the International Space Station shot a photograph of the Moon’s shadow crossing the Earth on June 21, 2020.

Published Jun 23, 2020

Atmosphere Unique Imagery

Mogadishu, Somalia
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Mogadishu, Somalia

An array of sandy colors paint the landscape around the capital and port city.

Published Jun 21, 2020

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Mediterranean Sunglint
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Mediterranean Sunglint

The play of sunlight on water gives definition to the jagged coastlines of Sardinia and Corsica.

Published Jun 14, 2020

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A Pair of Niles and Deltas
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A Pair of Niles and Deltas

Two inland deltas spring from the landscape near the confluence of the Blue and White Niles.

Published Jun 10, 2020

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Astronauts Launch from American Soil
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Astronauts Launch from American Soil

A commercially built and operated American crew spacecraft has safely delivered two NASA astronauts to the International Space Station.

Published Jun 2, 2020

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Lake Skadar, Montenegro and Albania
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Lake Skadar, Montenegro and Albania

The largest lake on the Balkan Peninsula is colored by sediments eroded from the surrounding highlands.

Published May 31, 2020

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Budapest at Night
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Budapest at Night

Divided by the Danube River, the city is actually a unification of three different older communities.

Published May 24, 2020

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Popcorn Clouds over Rio de Janeiro
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Popcorn Clouds over Rio de Janeiro

Clouds formed over rural areas and the cities but are noticeably absent above Guanabara Bay and the ocean due to the mechanisms of cloud formation.

Published May 17, 2020

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Patagonian Dust Streamers
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Patagonian Dust Streamers

Dust storms are common in the region, and sometimes bear resemblance to weather events on Mars.

Published May 10, 2020

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Wide-Eyed Over Mexico
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Wide-Eyed Over Mexico

An ISS astronaut using a short camera lens captured almost all of Mexico in one shot.

Published May 3, 2020

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Tournament Earth - Best of EO
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Tournament Earth - Best of EO

After five rounds and 56,000 votes, the readers have chosen their favorite. We have a Tournament Earth 2020 champion.

Published Apr 28, 2020

Human Presence Remote Sensing

Great Lakes Without Winter Ice
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Great Lakes Without Winter Ice

From late February to early March in most years, the winter cold freezes much of the surface area of the lakes. But not so much in 2020.

Published Apr 24, 2020

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Rolling Through the Appalachians
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Rolling Through the Appalachians

The Susquehanna River cuts through the folds of the Valley-and-Ridge province of the mountain chain.

Published Apr 12, 2020

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Ni’ihau
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Ni’ihau

Despite sporadic rainfall, the island is the occasional home of two of the larger bodies of water in Hawaii.

Published Apr 5, 2020

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Sunlit Peaks in the Himalayas
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Sunlit Peaks in the Himalayas

Earth’s third-highest summit, Kangchenjunga, rises more than 8500 meters above sea level along the border of Nepal and India.

Published Mar 29, 2020

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Choose Your Champion: Tournament Earth 2020
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Choose Your Champion: Tournament Earth 2020

Vote for your favorite all-time Earth Observatory image. Help narrow the field from 32 nominees down to one champion in a five-round tournament.

Published Mar 26, 2020

Atmosphere Land Life Water Snow and Ice Remote Sensing Videos