These stunning images of Earth taken from space showcase the incredible diversity of texture and color that make up our planet. We love how each frame turns familiar geography — deserts, deltas, ice, farmland — into something that looks almost abstract from orbit.
Taken from a European Space Agency (ESA) satellite, we see everything from the deep reds of the Namib Desert to the iridescent glow of the Ganges Delta. If you love this kind of vantage point, don’t miss our look at Incredible Images From Space Through the Lens of Astronaut Don Pettit, which captures many of these same kinds of landscapes from the window of the International Space Station instead of a satellite lens.
All of the images are available for high quality download on the ESA website, and make for incredible backgrounds, wallpapers, and more.
A Satellite’s Tour of Earth, One Landscape at a Time
The Namib Desert’s towering red dunes meet the cold Atlantic surf along Namibia’s coastline — among the oldest and tallest dune fields on Earth. We’ve also explored this desert’s otherworldly beauty from the ground.Folded ridgelines in the Peruvian Andes read almost like a fingerprint from orbit, with a single river carving a pale, winding path through the peaks.Swirling cloud bands wrap around a snow-dusted Scandinavian coastline, where dark fjord waters cut deep into the mountains below.The Mississippi River Delta’s distinctive “birdfoot” shape forms as sediment carried downriver spreads out into the Gulf of Mexico.The Ganges-Brahmaputra Delta’s tidal channels branch like veins across the world’s largest river delta. We’ve traced more rivers, deltas, and lakes shaped like letters in Spell Your Name With Rivers, Deltas, Lakes, and Deserts.
These twin circles are the Clearwater Lakes in Quebec — a pair of ancient impact craters believed to have formed from a double meteorite strike roughly 290 million years ago.A phytoplankton bloom swirls through the water in ribbons of turquoise and teal — a reminder that some of the ocean’s most vivid color comes from life too small to see.Trade winds collide with the peaks of the Canary Islands to spin off these swirling von Kármán vortex clouds, with the rust-orange Sahara stretching along the African coast just beyond.Center-pivot irrigation carves these near-perfect crop circles into the farmland of Aragón and Catalonia, Spain, each one watered by a single rotating arm.Zoomed out far enough, every desert, delta, and dune field in this post is just texture on a single, fragile globe.
Ben VanderVeen is the founder and editor of Moss & Fog, one of the web’s longest-running visual culture destinations. Since 2009, he’s been finding and framing the most beautiful, surprising, and thought-provoking work in art, architecture, design, and nature — reaching over 325,000 readers each month. He lives in Portland, Oregon.
It’s nice when we say things like “Our one and only home. We need to do everything we can to protect it” as you say, but (without wanting to be pessimistic and maybe already being so): HOW MANY GOOD REASONS DO WE HAVE TO BELIEVE THAT THERE ARE MANY PEOPLE (ESPECIALLY FROM BELLIGERANT GOVERNMENTS LIKE THE MANY OUT THERE) ARE WILLING TO DO EVERYTHING TO PROTECT OUR ONLY HOME? Just a thought or reflection out loud…
9 Comments
Beautifully photos much color wxciting to see thank you
Absolutely stunning 🤩
I so enjoyed these beautiful images! Thank you.
Those who are systematically ruining our beautiful home need to be evicted.
Pretty awesome. Thanks for sharing these beautiful pictures with m.
Brilliant images
It’s nice when we say things like “Our one and only home. We need to do everything we can to protect it” as you say, but (without wanting to be pessimistic and maybe already being so): HOW MANY GOOD REASONS DO WE HAVE TO BELIEVE THAT THERE ARE MANY PEOPLE (ESPECIALLY FROM BELLIGERANT GOVERNMENTS LIKE THE MANY OUT THERE) ARE WILLING TO DO EVERYTHING TO PROTECT OUR ONLY HOME? Just a thought or reflection out loud…
The colors are stunning!
Amazing photos