There’s something about viewing Earth from space — the shift in perspective has for decades moved us emotionally, scientifically, and philosophically.
The iconic Earthrise image of our planet rising above the lunar horizon, taken in 1968 by astronauts aboard the Apollo 8 mission, is widely credited with fueling the environmental movement that led to the first Earth Day on April 22, 1970.
The 1972 Blue Marble image, taken by astronauts in the Apollo 17 spacecraft, gave us another unique perspective of our planet, and its frailty, in its entirety.
Today, the bird’s-eye view of an image from space isn’t unfamiliar; whether navigating to a new restaurant or tracking the approaching path of a storm, it’s become commonplace to rely on these pictures.
Satellite images have also become a critical, powerful way of visualizing near-real-time changes to our planet’s natural areas and monitor threats like illegal logging and mining. These images guide a lot of Mongabay’s reporting.
At their core, satellite images continue to inspire and move us.
On Earth Day this year, we present ten satellite images taken by the Earth imaging company Planet Labs, which owns and operates a network of hundreds of small satellites orbiting our planet. These images were captured during Planet Labs’ routine scan of the globe.
Mt. Taranaki, New Zealand, captured March 16, 2022
Great Barrier Reef, Australia, captured Jan. 6, 2022
Thwaites Glacier, Antarctica, captured Nov. 27, 2024
Lençóis Maranhenses National Park, Brazil, captured April 21, 2023
Etosha National Park, Namibia, captured April 29, 2022
Sundarbans, India/Bangladesh, captured April 19, 2024
Kibale National Park, Uganda, captured July 23, 2023
Macapa, Brazil, captured July 22, 2023
Ranken, Northern Territory, Australia, captured March 14, 2023
Sunnhordland Geopark, Norway, captured May 31, 2021
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