Category: Earth from Space

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Geography Earth from Space Geology Places

Lake Baikal: the deepest lake in the World

Lake Baikal
A beautiful view of Lake Baikal. Photo: Markus Winkler on Unsplash

Lake Baikal, located in southern Russia, is the world’s deepest and oldest lake, containing over 20% of the world’s unfrozen freshwater. This massive body of water, which is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is home to thousands of unique plant and animal species that can only be found in its waters. With its stunning natural beauty and fascinating ecological significance, Lake Baikal is truly a wonder of the world. In this article, we will explore some of the most interesting and surprising Lake Baikal facts that make this place so special.

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Earth from Space Space Exploration

Earth from the International Space Station [Live HD Streaming]

You can experience stunning, live HD views of Earth as seen from the International Space Station (ISS), streamed directly from NASA's external cameras. Photo: Issyk-Kul Lake in the central Asian nation of Kyrgyzstan is surrounded by the snow-capped Tian Shen mountains.
You can experience stunning, live HD views of Earth as seen from the International Space Station (ISS), streamed directly from NASA's external cameras. Mounted on the Harmony module, these cameras provide a unique, real-time perspective of our planet from low-Earth orbit. Witness the beauty of continents, oceans, and clouds drifting by, all from space. Tune in to NASA's live feed and see our world like never before - a reminder of the awe-inspiring planet we call home.

The International Space Station (ISS) has been orbiting Earth since 1998, providing scientists and astronauts with an unparalleled view of our beautiful planet. But thanks to advancements in technology and the availability of high-speed internet, people all over the world can now experience breathtaking views of Earth from the ISS in real time.

Live HD streaming of Earth from the ISS has become a popular way for people to connect with the beauty and fragility of our planet, and to gain a deeper understanding of the science and technology that make this remarkable feat possible.

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Earth from Space Geology Life on Earth Places Planet Earth

Changing Earth: How Satellites Give us a Unique Perspective on our Evolving Planet

Changing Earth: The decline of Aral Sea between 2000 and 2014.
The decline of Aral Sea between 2000 and 2014.

The ever-changing Earth: our planet is constantly changing over the years. Some changes are part of nature, and some of them are on humanity’s shoulders. Some scientists even suggest that the Earth has entered a new geological epoch defined by human impact, called the “Anthropocene“. Over the years astronauts have taken photos of the Earth from space and documented these changes. NASA’s World of Change series shows how our planet’s land, oceans, atmosphere, and Sun are changing over time.

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Geology Earth from Space Places

10 Krakatoa facts about the 1883 eruption

1883 eruption of Krakatoa
An 1888 lithograph of the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa. By Lithograph: Parker & Coward, Britain - Image published as Plate 1 in The eruption of Krakatoa, and subsequent phenomena. Report of the Krakatoa Committee of the Royal Society (London, Trubner & Co., 1888)., Public Domain, Link

On August 26-27, 1883, one of the most notorious volcanic eruptions in history occurred. Krakatau (often spelled Krakatoa) erupted with an estimated 10,000 thousand times the force of the Hiroshima atomic bomb. The eruption was so violent that two-thirds of the island of Krakatoa and its surrounding archipelago were destroyed: about 23 square kilometers of Earth sank into the Sunda Strait.

Across Java and Sumatra, burning rock rained down, damaging and even destroying settlements. The sky went black.

Here are 10 amazing facts about the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa.

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Earth from Space Astronomy Life on Earth Solar System Space Exploration

Pale Blue Dot

Pale Blue Dot
This narrow-angle color image of the Earth, dubbed 'Pale Blue Dot', is a part of the first ever 'portrait' of the solar system taken by Voyager 1. The spacecraft acquired a total of 60 frames for a mosaic of the solar system from a distance of more than 4 billion miles from Earth and about 32 degrees above the ecliptic. Image: NASA Probably the most iconic photo of Earth from space. It is known as "Pale Blue Dot". At the request of Carl Sagan, the Voyager 1 spacecraft, which had completed its primary mission and was leaving the Solar System, was commanded by NASA to turn its camera around and to take a photograph of Earth across a great expanse of space. In the photograph, the Earth is shown as a fraction of a pixel (0.12 pixel in size) against the vastness of space. The photo was taken about 6 billion kilometers (3.7 billion miles, 40 AU) from Earth. "Consider again that dot [Earth]. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every 'superstar,' every 'supreme leader,' every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there - on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam."  --Carl Sagan, Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space

The farthest spacecraft from Earth, NASA’s Voyager 1 (see notes 1) probe took a photo of planet Earth on February 14, 1990, from a record distance of about 6 billion kilometers (3.7 billion miles, 40 AU (see notes 2) from Earth. The photo is known as the Pale Blue Dot. In the photograph, Earth is shown as a fraction of a pixel (0.12 pixel in size) against the vastness of space. It was a part of the Solar System Family Portrait series of images.

The Voyager 1 spacecraft, which had completed its primary mission and was leaving the Solar System, was commanded by NASA to turn its camera around and take a photograph of Earth across a great expanse of space, at the request of Carl Sagan (see notes 3).

It quickly became the most iconic photo of Earth taken from space.

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