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View of the earth from space showing North American and South America and the sun shining in the background. T. Kevin Smyth Stock Connection Worldwide/Newscom. Find it on Newscom: scphotos073660
It’s Earth Day. In order to truly celebrate Earth and its many wonders we decided to take a step back … way back and see the whole picture. We’re talking the whole Earth, from space. While other well-intentioned photo sites will be focusing on Earth and its resources, pretty places, or endangered animals and the like, we’re going to talk about what really matters. The whole enchilada.
We actually – somewhat surprisingly – sell a fair bit of space photos. From pics of the inside of the space station to vast images of the cosmos, Newscom has a good range of out-of-this-world imagery. So we’re going to showcase it. Here are some story ideas where you could actually use these images:
- Celebrate Earth Day. It’s pretty simple, these are pictures of the Earth, it’s Earth’s day. Done.
- Discuss the pros and cons of space exploration.
- Is there life out there? You could show the view these aliens would have as they come in to earth.
- An analysis of Earth’s atmosphere and what exactly it is composed of.
- How about putting forth the benefits of becoming a space photographer? It’s still a pretty new field, little competition except from NASA, and you really can’t be the view. It can’t be any more dangerous that photographing sharks. The only downside is that I”m not entirely sure about the equipment. What kind of camera would you take up there?
Check out our collection of cool Earth photos. I tried really hard to include only actual photos of Earth from space. But some of those darn artists’ rendering images were either too cool to not include or it was a little hard to tell they weren’t actually pictures of Our Rock. So apologies if some slipped through … like the first image on this post … I can’t quite be sure. I’m pretty sure it’s fake, but then I look again and I”m not that sure. So I decided to be an optimist and include it.
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A breathtaking sunset over earth. NASA/WENN.com/Newscom. Find it on Newscom: wennoddpix044038
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Among the views of Earth afforded astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS), surely one of the most spectacular is of the aurora. These ever-shifting displays of colored ribbons, curtains, rays, and spots are most visible near the North (aurora borealis) and South (aurora australis) Poles as charged particles (ions) streaming from the Sun. z03/z03/ZUMA Press/Newscom. Find it on Newscom: zumawireworldphotosthree898801
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Astronaut floating in orbit above the earth. Stock Connection Worldwide/Newscom. Find it on Newscom: scphotos048769
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Earth from the moon. Photoshot/Newscom. Find it on Newscom: ptsphotoshot254557
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To mark the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, officials at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center have released these stunning shots from decades of space travel. The stunning snaps include the first U.S. spacewalk, a 1968 shot of the Earth on Christmas morning, the first Earth image on TV from 1960 and a breathtaking sunset over earth. NASA/WENN.com/Newscom. Find it on Newscom: wennoddpix044036
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Over Earth’s colorful horizon, the silhouette of the space shuttle Endeavour is featured in this photo by an Expedition 22 crew member on board the International Space Station, as the shuttle approached for its docking on February 9, 2010 during the STS-130 mission. NASA/UPI/Newscom. Find it on Newscom: upiphotostwo058648
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NEW MOON Here’s a view of Earth you haven’t seen before – it looks like the moon. The European Space Agency craft Rosetta took a series of images as it orbited the planet while only a fraction of the southern hemisphere was in daylight. Three photos with different coloured filters were then combined to produce this eye-catching picture. CB2/ZOB/WENN.com/Newscom. Find it on Newscom: wennoddpix037713
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From 220 miles above Earth, one of the Expedition 25 crew members on the International Space Station took this night time photo featuring the bright lights of Cairo and Alexandria, Egypt on the Mediterranean coast. The Nile River and its delta stand out clearly in this Nov 4th photo as well. On the horizon, the airglow of the atmosphere is seen across the Mediterranean. The Sinai Peninsula, at right, is outlined with lights highlighting the Gulf of Suez and Gulf of Aqaba. z03/z03/ZUMA Press/Newscom. Find it on Newscom: zumawireworldphotosthree745632
See more from the collection here.
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