Back in 1999, NASA launched Earth Observatory, a publishing outlet whose "mission is to share with the public the images, stories and discoveries about the environment, Earth systems and climate that emerge from NASA research."
Throughout the past two decades, the publication has given us access to unforgettable images that have helped shape human understanding both of space and our own planet.
So incredible have the photos been that NASA decided to launch an actual tournament to determine readers' favorites. The winner of the bracket-style competition—which included five rounds and ranked in over 56,000 votes—is, drum roll, a satellite image of the seaweed and sands in the Bahamas.
The spectacular piece of art was taken by the Enhanced Thematic Mapper plus instrument aboard satellite Landsat 7. "Tides and ocean currents in the Bahamas sculpted the sand and seaweed beds into these multicolored, fluted patterns in much the same way that winds sculpted the vast sand dunes in the Sahara Desert," explains the outlet.
Onto the runner up: this phenomenal photo of the erupting Raikoke Volcano on the Kuril Islands (ABOVE) which, interestingly enough, most recently erupted in 1924 and, believe it or not, back in 1778. "The dormant period ended around 4am local time on June 22, 2019, when a vast plume of ash and volcanic gases shot up from its 700-meter-wide crater," reads the site's description of the photo.
Since we've got access to them and they're certainly worth being looked at, check out some other images that were in the running.
