--- description: From a Medieval palace in Syria to a giant rubber duck floating in Hong Kong, DigitalGlobe features its best satellite imagery of the year title: 20 Breathtaking Images Of The Earth As Seen From Space image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7e35bf30bbbb068e/6986838e810bbb9ec3c90412/heart-island.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Science](/section/science/) ## Science Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # 20 Breathtaking Images Of The Earth As Seen From Space by [TIME Photo](/author/time-photo/) ## TIME Photo Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 3, 2013 6:13 PM CUT  Croatia, Feb. 16, 2013 – Galešnjak (Island of Love) Croatia, Feb. 16, 2013 – Galešnjak (Island of Love)DigitalGlobe—Getty Images by [TIME Photo](/author/time-photo/) ## TIME Photo Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 3, 2013 6:13 PM CUT Digital Globe, a provider of commercial satellite pictures, gathers 1 billion square kilometers of Earth imagery every year. That’s nearly enough to cover the globe twice — and some of it is downright beautiful. Several years ago, employees at the Colorado-based organization decided to pick their favorite to share Earth’s beauty with the public. This year, they’ve collected 20 awe-inspiring scenes, and they want you to pick your favorite of the bunch. Their picks can be seen above, and you can vote for your favorite on DigitalGlobe’s [Facebook page](https://www.facebook.com/DigitalGlobeInc "undefined").  Aleppo, Syria, May 26, 2013 – The Citadel of Aleppo – medieval fortified palace DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Belfast, Northern Ireland, Nov. 3, 2013 – “Wish,” a large-scale art work DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Utah, USA, April 22, 2013 – Colorado River DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Cuanza River, Angola, April 28, 2013 – Cambambe Dam DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Doha, Qatar, March 4, 2013 – Artificial island spanning nearly four million sq meters. DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Dunalley, Australia, Jan. 6, 2013 – fires, false color image (red = healthy vegetation) DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Australia, April 22, 2013 – Great Barrier Reef DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Gwadar coast, Pakistan Sept. 29, 2013 – new island created by earthquake in Pakistan DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Croatia, Feb. 16, 2013 – Galešnjak (Island of Love) DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Hong Kong, China May 9, 2013 – giant rubber duck DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Madang Province, Papua New Guinea, March 22, 2013 – Manam Volcano DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Namib Desert, Namibia, May 13, 2013 – Sossusvlie area DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Naples, Italy, Feb. 19 2013 – Mount Vesuvius DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Niger, Feb. 13, 2013 – Arlit Uranium Mine DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Schooner Cays, Bahamas, May 26, 2013 DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Sochi, Russia, March 17, 2013 – Site of 2014 winter Olympics DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Near the city of Sur, Oman, Feb. 13, 2013 – massive “green tide” DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Valencia, Spain, July 19, 2013 – Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia and Gulliver Park with an enormous fiberglass model of Lemuel Gulliver trapped DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Versailles, France, Aug. 20, 2013 – Palace of Versailles DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Xi'an, China, Sept. 24, 2013 – Shiyuan Park DigitalGlobe—Getty Images ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/11534/20-breathtaking-images-of-the-earth-as-seen-from-space/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/11534/20-breathtaking-images-of-the-earth-as-seen-from-space/"},"headline":"20 Breathtaking Images Of The Earth As Seen From Space","datePublished":"2013-12-03T18:13:25.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:08:42.302Z","description":"From a Medieval palace in Syria to a giant rubber duck floating in Hong Kong, DigitalGlobe features its best satellite imagery of the year","url":"https://time.com/11534/20-breathtaking-images-of-the-earth-as-seen-from-space/","keywords":["photography","Photo"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7e35bf30bbbb068e/6986838e810bbb9ec3c90412/heart-island.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Photo","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-photo/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7e35bf30bbbb068e/6986838e810bbb9ec3c90412/heart-island.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Croatia","caption":"Croatia","creditText":"DigitalGlobe—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/11534/20-breathtaking-images-of-the-earth-as-seen-from-space/","name":"20 Breathtaking Images Of The Earth As Seen From Space"}}]}] ```