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Charlene Anderson • Mar 02, 2010

What's your favorite planet?

What's your favorite planet? 

Before you answer, check out these images!

Earth! A Spectacular "Blue Marble"
Earth! A Spectacular "Blue Marble" Image by Reto Stöckli (land surface, shallow water, clouds). Enhancements by Robert Simmon (ocean color, compositing, 3D globes, animation). Data and technical support: MODIS Land Group; MODIS Science Data Support Team; MODIS Atmosphere Group; MODIS Ocean Group Additional data: USGS EROS Data Center (topography); USGS Terrestrial Remote Sensing Flagstaff Field Center (Antarctica); Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (city lights). This spectacular "blue marble" image is the most detailed true-color view of Earth ever published.Image: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Earth in true color
Earth in true color This spectacular "blue marble" image is the most detailed true-color image of the entire Earth to date.Image: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

After looking at these amazing new images of the home world, there's no way I could say anything other than "Earth!" These are "the most detailed true-color image[s] of the entire Earth to date." Most of the data that went into their creation came from the MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) flying on the Terra satellite, which is my all-time-favorite orbiting instrument because of the truly stunning images it returns to Earth every day.