NASA's fleet of satellites and its astronauts aboard the International Space Station took a slew of incredibly beautiful images of Earth this year. From erupting volcanoes and wildfire scars to idyllic islands and surreal cloud formations, here are our favorites. <\/p>\n
Above, Pavlof volcano in the Aleutian arc erupts in this image captured by astronauts on the International Space Station on May 18, 2013. Below, the eruption plume extends over the Pacific ocean. (NASA). [High resolution versions: above, below] <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
A mix of harvested and ripening agricultural fields in eastern Kazakhstan was captured Sept. 9, 2013 by the Landsat 8 satellite, launched this year by NASA and operated by the USGS. (USGS\/NASA). [High resolution version] <\/p>\n
Supertyphoon Haiyan the day before it made landfall in the Philippines. The coast of the Philippines can be seen outlined on the far left of the image. Captured by NASA's Aqua satellite on Nov. 7 2013. (NASA). [High resolution version] <\/p>\n
Running left to right through the center of this image is the scar from the EF-5 tornado that ran through Moore, Oklahoma on May 20, 2013 killing at least 24, injuring 377 and likely topping $2 billion in damages. Captured by NASA's Terra satellite on June 2, 2013. (NASA). [High resolution version] <\/p>\n
Alaska is almost always mostly, or at least partially, covered with clouds, but this rare, cloudless moment was captured by NASA's Terra satellite on June 17, 2013. (NASA). [High resolution version] <\/p>\n
The burn scar from the Rim fire that burned moew than 255,000 acres in the Yosemite area in August can be seen in grey in the image above. This image was captured on Sept. 16, 3013 by the NASA\/USGS Landsat 8 satellite. The map below shows the outline and progression of the fire. (Image: USGS\/NASA. Map: Robert Simmon, NASA). [High resolution version] <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The Bingham Canyon Mine near Salt Lake City, Utah is one of the largest open-pit mines in the world, measuring 2.5 miles a cross and almost 4,000 feet deep. The mine's major product is copper, but it also produces gold, silver and molybdenum. The image above shows the aftermath of the largest landslide in North American history, which struck the mine on Apr. 10, 2013. This image was captured by NASAs Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) three weeks after the slide on May 2, 2013. Below, the view is compared to an image from 2011. (NASA). [High resolution version] <\/p>\n
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The Most Amazing Images NASA Took of Earth From Space This Year<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" NASA's fleet of satellites and its astronauts aboard the International Space Station took a slew of incredibly beautiful images of Earth this year. From erupting volcanoes and wildfire scars to idyllic islands and surreal cloud formations, here are our favorites. Above, Pavlof volcano in the Aleutian arc erupts in this image captured by astronauts on the International Space Station on May 18, 2013. Continue reading