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Earth Observatory Image of the Day

NASA's view of the Earth from the Earth Observatory.

An explosive eruption sent a kilometers-high column of volcanic material over Indonesia.

Laki-Laki is labeled at the right end of the horizontally oriented stretched Flores Island. Surrounded by deep blue waters, the Flores sea above and the Savu Sea below. Another island, Sumba, is visible in the lower left corner of the image. The view of rich green foliage of Flores island is partially obstructed by a near white ash cloud streaming from Laki-laki

The “young” and well-preserved crater helps scientists understand cratering processes on Earth and elsewhere in the solar system.

In the upper left of center of the image a meteor crater is labeled below route 40. Sunset Mountains center in the image and the Anderson Mesa occupies the lower left edge of the image, darker in color than the yellow landscape that dominates the image.

A round depression in the salty plains of the Kutch Basin reveals telltale signs of a prehistoric meteorite impact.

in the light brown dusty landscape is a near white spot surrounded in by pale green. This is zoomed in on in a pop out box and labeled Luna impact crater. More foliage appears in the lower left of the image in a gridded pattern.

The idyllic region of Dalarna County is the site of an ancient, powerful collision.

A landscape covered in green foliage centers a ring of lakes, the largest of which is in the lower left and labeled Silijan. Towns of Rattvik, Leksand and Mora reside at the edges of the lake. Other lakes in the image, clockwise from Silijan are Orsa, Skattungen and Ljugaren.

The optical phenomenon revealed features on and below the Peruvian lake’s surface, such as wind patterns, natural surface films, and...

Lake Titicaca in this image appears shades of silver due to the sunglint. Amantani Island is in the upper right, a light brown color, Capachica Peninsula is just left of center at the top of the image. Just below the image center is a long island reaching near the bottom of the image. To the left of that island internal waves are labeled as well as a boat wake on a perpendicular trajector from the island to the main land along the left border.

The 50,000-year-old crater is relatively young, and only the second discovered in China.

Amid forested landscape that occupies the majority of the image, including the entirety of the upper left to the center of the image, is a crescent shaped ridge labeled the Yilan crater. The Balan river is labeled along the right edge of the image in the upper portion and the surrounding land appears to be segmented into farmed pale green fields. The land along the bottom of the image also consists of many divided strips, though of grays browns and near white colors.

The world’s oldest and largest known impact structure shows some of the most extreme deformation conditions known on Earth.

the beige colored landscape is interrupted by an arc of elevated craggy land that is darker in color labeled the Vredefort dome. The Vaal River runs vertically through the this feature as a dark crack on the landscape. Vredefort and the town of Parys are in the lower left from the dome, the latter along the river. Another town is visible in the top right labeled potchefstroom

Famously visible from space, ring-shaped Manicouagan Lake was filled at the dawn of the Space Age when Canada dammed a...

A Modern Lake in an Ancient Crater

On June 30, 1908, an incoming fireball exploded kilometers above Earth’s surface, scorching and toppling large numbers of trees.

the rich green landscape includes Lake Cheko along a river that meanders along the top of the image. In the lower center there is a crater and possible trajectory line where the landscape color lightens..

Owens Lake, an arid playa tucked between the Inyo Mountains and the Sierra Nevada in California, is the site of...

a white spot with an orange colored center resides in the valley between the Inyo Mountains, at the top of the image, and the Sierra Nevada at the bottom. The entire landscape aside from Owen's Lake is pale brown.

The eastern United States sweltered under high heat and humidity in late June 2025, breaking temperature records across the Midwest...

A map of the Eastern half of the united states with state boundaries overlaid in white and a red to white color gradient overlay corresponding to air temperature. The hottest temperature is a near black dark red, at 40 degrees Celsius. The coolest temperature on the scale is white corresponds to 10 degrees Celsius or less. The only area not in the red shade of the spectrum of 20 degrees of higher is in Canada. From Maine to Texas, the entire landscape is a deep red color.

A type of phytoplankton called coccolithophores, less common in waters off New England since around 2010, made an impressive appearance...

The Gulf of Maine center's in the image, the northeast of the United states appears in the upper left portion of the image. Massachusetts and New Hampshire are both labeled in the upper left green covered landscape. In the gulf, there is a light blue and teal color intermixed with the dark blue of the deep ocean.

The landslide struck a section of the Canadian river between Whitehorse and Lake Laberge and left a heap of debris...

The image features the blue-green Yukon River with a single meander at the top of the image otherwise a near straight connection to the bottom left of the image. A pale strip through the foliage inland of the river on the left appears to be the major road, with some side roads and farmed fields in the area. Left of the road appears to be entirely natural foliage. To the right of the river the land is a mix of dead brown and green living foliage and Swan Lake. On the banks of the lake, just below the image center the river narrows on both sides, labeled a scarp, one that is composed of landslide debris. The material looks bright near white in color compared to the surrounding landscape which is covered in foliage.

The glacier-covered Alaskan peak has a history of frequent, large avalanches.

The Cook inlet occupies the right side to bottom middle of the image. The coastline is green with vegetation and the peaks shortly inland are snow covered. This includes the Red Glacier and Iliamna Volcano just below the image center.

An astronaut took this striking photo of a vast, freshwater lake in west-central Mexico, as well as the surrounding volcanic...

The gray-blue waters of Lake Chapala center in the image. The foreground is speckled with foliage while above the lake the land is more bare, including Guadalajara, which appears more vibrant in color than the surrounding area.

Phytoplankton imparted brilliant blues and greens to North Sea waters near the Scottish archipelago in June 2025.

The Shetland islands peak into the frame at the top left. the image in the North Sea is otherwise dominated by a swirl of vibrant green water, labeled bloom with the dark blue ocean.

With extreme drought gripping the state, firefighters are battling large blazes north of Silver City.

Amid the green foliage of the Gila National Forest, composed of many ridges and valleys, is a large burned area in a dark brown color, active fire is visible as orange in a ring around the edge of the burned area. This is an infrared signature. Directly north of the burn is Lake Roberts along Sapillo creek which run from the upper left and the river valley curves to to the lower right after flowing into Lake Roberts

The island group off mainland Mozambique is a dynamic marine and island ecosystem shaped by tides and currents.

Mozambique, mottled green brown and tan landscape on the left side of the image. The center of the image features the coastline and the right side the Mozambique Channel. A barrier island consisting of, from North to South, Duna Guniça, Ilha do Bazaruto, and Ilha de Santo António. At the southern edge the islands are at their closest to the mainland, and there is a wide swath of visible sand deposits in the area.

Marine storm cloud zones have shifted poleward and narrowed, and the changes are contributing to our planet’s growing energy imbalance.

A drawn circular depiction of earth with arrows curving in toward the equator to the left from 30 degrees latitude and arrows between 30 and 60 degrees latitude curing in the opposite direction. The region below the equator is labeled the subtropical dry zone and the area above it is labeled ITCZ thunderstorms. North of that is labeled Mid-latitude storm zones. On the left side of the image are circular rotations, the bottom of which is red and the upper portions blue. The one near the equator is labeled the Hadley cell, circulating clockwise in the northern hemisphere, counter in the southern. Midlatitude rotates in the opposite direction, and the polar returns to clockwise.

Farming of this valuable product has become common in recent decades in the waters of Tanzania’s Pemba Island.

The green and beige speckled Pemba Island flanks the left side of the image, the rich blue Indian Ocean on the right. An inlet along Adamson Bay is zoomed in on and small specs within are labeled seaweed farms. Below the vertical Adamson Bay is the city of Kojani, on the inland tip of the large barrier island separating the bay from the Ocean.

An astronaut photographed Alexandria’s coastal development, agricultural zones, harbors, and salt ponds.

This image shows the densely populated shoreline of Alexandria along the Mediterranean Sea at the top of the image the region is gray and beige in color from the dense human built structures. Lower down in the image the land is green and largely gridded by tan roads, labeled Agriculture. A gridded section of vibrantly colored pools are labeled Lake Mariut.

Sea ice in the gulf, the gateway to the Northwest Passage, is fracturing and drifting westward into the Beaufort Sea.

The ice covered landscape includes sea ice and a small sliver of near black appearing crescents of ocean at the edge of the amundsen gulf, center in the image. To the left of that is the Beaufort Sea, covered in densely packed, but broken ice. Cloud, snow or a combination of the two cover the Canadian land at the bottom of the image, with it wrapping up around the Amundsen gulf on the right

A powerful weather system brought heavy snow to southern African mountains, plus high winds and flooding to the lowlands.

The image shows the landscape primarily in vibrant green, however, where the elevation of the landscape rises with craggy mountains and valleys, in and around Lesotho, the land is colored bright blue and labeled as snow. A pale light blue is also seen in the lower right portion of the image and labeled clouds.

The Midwest state has flat land, fertile soils, and the nation’s largest soybean harvest.

A map view of the north central United states in grayscale with state border overlays. Included in the image are the states of Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, and Missouri. The landscape is also speckled in green, labeled 2024 Soybean Cropland. The majority of the soybean crop is in the northern part of the image except for the land surrounding the Mississippi River valley. Part of Lake Michigan is also visible at the top of the image, just right of center.

Hurricane Barbara and Tropical Storm Cosme lined up off the western coast of Mexico.

The image centers over the deep blue Pacific Ocean off the coast of Mexico. Just south and west of the coastal city of Puerto Vallarta is a swirl of clouds labeled Barbara. A separate swirl center at the bottom left is labeled Cosme, both storms clouds intermingle along the bottom of the image. A sliver of the Gulf of Mexico is visible in the upper right corner and Mexico city is labeled in the middle right of the image. Mexico city seems to be situated at the juncture where land goes from mostly beige and sandy to green, and further south continues to show increased foliage covered landscape.

One of the strongest tornadoes to hit the area left a long scar across the landscape.

The towns of Somerset, left, and London, right, in Kentucky are divided by a large swath of deep green foliage. Between the two towns a line of brown land disrupts the foliage and is labeled as a tornado track. Sporadic cloud cover covers much of the image, and the two towns show varied forms of land use including farmed fields in tan shades.

Agricultural fields in north-central Montana, where wheat grows in abundance, display captivating patterns when viewed from above.

The Highwood Mountains occupy the lower right of the image. The Missouri River enters the image in the top right with Fort Benton along it. There are three square overlays along the otherwise entirely farmed landscape, in the lower center the focal area includes Great Falls. Left of that is another area long the river. Above both is another region highlight, just left of Dutton.

Fires in northern Alberta temporarily disrupted Canadian oil production.

In this satellite image the majority of the landscape is vibrant green with Christina Lake stretching horizontally across the upper part of the image. At the left end is Conklin. Below that halfway down the image are well pads. To the right side of the image is a large brown region that stretches vertically into the image from the bottom. labeled burned area.

Smoke from wildland fires in Canada streamed over colorful seawater east of Greenland.

Greenland is in the top left of the image, with swirling white sea ice along the coast. Clouds obscure the right edge and bottom left. Between the bordering clouds the Ocean is visible, including a phytoplankton bloom that lightenes the shade of the otherwise deep blue waters. A streak of haze is visible sweeping between the clouds as well and is labeled Smoke.

Canadian wildfires produced smoke plumes so vast they were visible from deep space and caused hazy skies as far south...

Image of the Earth zoomed out to span the entire Americas and part of Africa. The visible land is primarily green to dusky brown in color, aside from Northern Africa, which is a bright tan color. Clouds are interspersed across the entire image obscuring much of the land and blue ocean below, but a slight discoloration between Africa and South America is labeled as dust. A significant darkened swirl coupled against the swirling clouds over North America. This is labeled as smoke.

Rockfalls overwhelmed one of Vallunaraju’s glacial lakes, unleashing a destructive debris flow that struck the city of Huaraz.

White glacial ice in the top of the image, where brown mountain peaks are located, give way to glacial lakes and debris flows in Cordillera Blanca in Peru. The brown highlighted debris flow is in the valley between two mountains which drains toward the dense population area of Huaraz, which is surrounded by the foliage that occupies the lower left of the image.

The Mississippi River has shaped the landscape in southeastern Louisiana, supporting agriculture and connecting the region with vital trade and...

farm fields radiate away from the meandering Mississippi River. Dark green foliage fills the upper left with the Gulf Intercoastal Waterway cutting through. The right edge of the image includes the built up area of Baton Rouge.

Unusually warm sea surface temperatures lingered for months in the waters around the U.K. and Ireland in spring 2025.

Image of Northern Europe, centering the UK and Ireland. The land is depicted in grayscale and the ocean color coded to temperature anomaly.

Temperatures soared across the island during an early, widespread, and long-lasting hot spell.

Iceland is shown with an air temperature overlay in shades of light blue to near black orange. The gradient shifts from blue to orange at 3.5 degrees C and reaches it's darkest at 18 degrees C or more. The entire map is within the orange hue range, Egilsstaðir and the top right is all in the darkest shade with only the Vatnajökull area appearing a light orange shade. Húsafell and Reykjavik on the left side of the island country are also in a band of deep orange. On the tip of a peninsula near Reykjavik the town of Djúpivogur is in a medium orange shade

Researchers found a relationship between idle farmland and dust storms in one of the nation’s largest breadbaskets.

grids of crop fields dominate the image, most of which are beige (upper left) or gray (lower right) interspersed with rich green colored fields. A beige and gray field are both pointed to as Fallow cropland. The town of Stratford is in the upper center of the image, a solar farm is to the left of Stratford appearing as small dark rectangles on the beige landscape. Tomato is one of the green fields near the center of the image. Cotton is another green field in the lower right. Saltflower is labeled as a beige field just below the cotton

The restless Costa Rican volcano sustains a hot, ultra-acidic crater lake that shares similarities to Martian environments.

Volcán Poás is labeled in the image center, a horizontally stretched rough rectangle of tan rock surrounded primarily by deep green foliage. On the right end of the tan rock region a slight crater is labeled Laguna Caliente. Just below Laguna Caliente in the deep green foliage is a dark spot labeled Laguna Botos. The surrounding Costa Rica landscape appears to have numerous peak ridges and valleys leading away from the volcano.

A perched patch of grasslands and savanna in Brazil acts as a sponge to recharge groundwater and feed natural hot...

A dark brown prominent oval shaped geological feature is labeled Serra de Caldas. To the left of that is Rio Quente. To the right of the oval is Caldas Novas, a human settlement, appearing light tan, nestled between Serra de Caldas and a major branching water reservoir. The remainder of the image is varying shades of green and tan fields dotted with small spots of dense foliage.

A network of brackish lakes and associated wetlands in northwestern Australia held more water than usual in October 2024 following...

Light blue-green Lake Gregory resides amid orange brown landscape with linear dunes and Burned areas to the left and a near white shade of land webbing into the lake from the right. Labeled as A Delta of Sturt Creek. Along the lower portion of the delta is a faint smoke plume streaming left. A pop out image of the same lake in 2021 shows the lake taking up much less of the landscape.

Thousands of soldiers killed during World War II are interred at the Manila American Cemetery, the largest overseas U.S. military...

amid a densely settled region the image centers on a green spot labeled walls of the missing and Manila American Cemetery and Memorial. A golf course's extends the green area to the left of center. At the bottom right is Laguna with Pateros River Meandering to it from the urban area.

Far above the Arctic Circle, the landscape around Utqiaġvik, Alaska, transforms from a frozen tundra to a mosaic of ponds...

Alaska beige land is spotted with countless stretched lakes, top to bottom toward the coastline at the top of the image. Point Barrow is the northernmost point of land and borders Elson Lagoon. Utqiagvik is the lone human settlement in frame. Along the right edge of the image is Admiralty bay, filled with brown water and slightly separated from the blue ocean by barrier islands. Some white specs of ice are seen scattered in the upper left of the image.