Science

These Are Some of the Year's Best Images of Earth From Space

I never get tired of looking at satellite imagery. There's always something new, amazing and surprising to see. This year, Digital Globe captured a slew of incredible scenes of our planet. I can only imagine how hard it was to narrow their favorites down to 20. But which is the best? You get to decide.
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Madang Province, Papua New Guinea
Madang Province, Papua New Guinea, March 22, 2013 – Manam Volcano. (Image Copyright Digital Globe)

I never get tired of looking at satellite imagery. There's always something new, amazing and surprising to see. This year, Digital Globe captured a slew of incredible scenes of our planet. Their suite of five satellites can collect more than 1 billion square kilometers of imagery every year. I can only imagine how hard it was to narrow their favorites down to 20.

But which is the best of the best? That's for you to decide. Do you prefer the beautiful symmetry of man-made structures or the strange wildness of rivers and sand dunes? Digital Globe wants you to vote for your favorites on their Facebook page. You can also do a bunch of other social media stuff that will result in more votes (like retweet, repin, +1).

Fortunately, you can like, tweet, pin and otherwise share your preferences publicly as many times as you want, so you will not be forced to actually choose just one favorite.

And if you think these images are awesome, you should join me in drooling over the possibilities Digital Globe's new satellite WorldView-3 – set to launch next year – will bring.

(All images copyright Digital Globe)