Stunning Satellite Images

I've always enjoyed looking at photographs taken from high above in the stars. The immensity of the Earth and the infinite nature of the Universe have consistently made me feel very small and insignificant. I am in awe of the wonders that surround us. These are some of my favorite photos of interesting man-made structures and natural phenomena that continue to captivate me. Hope you enjoy them.

This is a natural color, 60-centimeter (2-foot) high-resolution QuickBird satellite image featuring the southwestern coast of Sri Lanka. Imagery was collected on December 26, 2004 at 10:20 a.m. local time, slightly less than four hours after the 6:28 a.m. earthquake and shortly after the moment of tsunami impact.

This IKONOS satellite image was collected on July 16, 2004. The image shows this man-made island that lies off the coast of Dubai in the Persian Gulf. The island is being built from 80 million cubic meters of land dredged from the approach channel to the Emirates Jebel Ali Port. When complete, this resort will have approximately 1,200 single-family and 600 multi-family residences, an aquatic theme park, shopping centers, cinemas and more. Wow. What oil can buy these days. Incredible.

On a Space Station expedition, astronauts observed and captured this detailed image of the volcano's summit caldera. In the center of the crater sits a lava dome that is 876 feet above the crater floor and is about 3,500 feet in diameter. The dome began to form after the May 18, 1980 eruption of Mount Saint Helens. After the eruption, there was not any dome building eruptions for more than a decade. Afternoon lighting accents the flow features in the volcanic and debris flows and the steep valleys eroded into the loosely consolidated material near the summit. This picture was taken on October 25, 2002.

North and South Malosmadulu Atolls are in the Maldives, an island Republic in the northern Indian Ocean, southwest of India. The Maldives are made up of a chain of 1,192 small coral islands, which are grouped into clusters of atolls. It has a total area of 298 qquare kilometers and a population of about 330,000. The capital and largest city is Male, with a population of about 80,000. Arguably the lowest-lying country in the world, the average elevation is just 1 meter above sea level. The natural-color ASTER image of the Malosmadulu Atolls was acquired on December 22, 2002, and is centered near 5.3 degrees North latitude, 73.9 degrees West longitude.

This featured image is a 61-centimeter pan-sharpened image of the Great Pyramid in Giza, Egypt, collected by QuickBird on February 2, 2002. The Great Pyramid is estimated to have been built circa 2650 B.C., and was erected as a tomb for the Egyptian pharaoh Khufu of the Fourth Dynasty. Upon the completion of its construction, the Great Pyramid stood 145.75 meters (481 feet) high, and over the millennia has lost approximately 10 meters (30 feet) off the top. It stood as the tallest structure on Earth for more than 43 centuries.

This image of the northern portion of the Nile River was captured by the Multi-angle Imaging Spectroradiometer's (MISR's) nadir camera on January 30, 2001. Against the barren desert of northeastern Africa, the fertile valley of the Nile River runs northward through Egypt. The city of Cairo can be seen as a gray smudge right where the river widens into its broad fan-shaped delta. Other cities are dotted across the green landscape, giving it a speckled appearance. Where the Nile empties into the Mediterranean Sea (top) the waters are swirling with color, likely a mixture of sediment, organic matter, and possibly marine plant life. Farther west, the bright blue color of the water is likely less-organically rich sediment, perhaps sand.

Is it or isn't it? Satellite images of Mt. Ararat, Turkey have pointed to, what many consider to be, a possible sighting of Noah's Ark. Decide for yourself!


Northern Arizona and the Grand Canyon are captured in this pair of multi-angle Imaging Spectroradiometer (MISR) images from December 31, 2000. In addition to the Grand Canyon itself, which is visible in the western (lower) half of the images, other landmarks include Lake Powell, on the left, and Humphreys Peak and Sunset Crater National Monument on the right. Meteor Crater appears as a small dark depression with a brighter rim, and is visible along the upper right-hand edge.

The IKON OS satellite image of Ayers Rock was collected January 17, 2004. Ayers Rock is located in Kata Tjuta National Park, 280 miles southwest of Alice Springs, Australia. It is the world's largest monolith, an Aboriginal sacred site, and Australia's most famous natural landmark.

This image of the Earth's city lights was captured on October 19, 2000. I find it beautiful, yet depressing in a way when I see the obvious way in which we have impacted the planet.

This image shows Niagara River that connects Lake Erie to Lake Ontario by snaking around Goat Island in the lower left area. Every second, more than 2 million liters of water plunges over the Horseshoe Falls segment of Niagara Falls, creating one of the world's largest waterfalls. This photograph was taken August 2, 2004.