Photos of Antarctica

Want to stay on top of all the space news? Follow @universetoday on Twitter

Here are some cool Antarctica photos. You can make any of these images into your computer desktop wallpaper. Just click on an image to enlarge it, and then choose “Set as Desktop Background”.

The Blue Marble from Apollo 17

This is a spectacular full view of our planet earth. It was taken by the Apollo 17 during their journey to the moon in December 7, 1972. The south polar ice cap of Antarctica can be clearly seen in the image. This region constitutes 70% of the world’s freshwater. This photo of the earth was the first to feature the south polar ice cap.

Wilkins Ice Shelf

This is a photo of the Wilkins Ice Shelf located on the western portion of the Antarctica. It was taken by the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) onboard the NASA’s Terra satellite on April 12, 2009. ASTER is a high resolution imaging instrument used to obtain detailed maps of the earth.

Dry Valleys, Antarctica

Here’s a satellite image of McMurdo Dry Valleys in Antartica taken by the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) on board the Terra satellite. ASTER is an imaging instrument that provides detailed maps of the earth’s land surface.

Wilkins Ice Bridge Collapse

Here’s an image of Antarctica’s Wilkins Ice Shelf during the break-up of the ice bridge. The image was taken on April 6, 2009 by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument flying onboard NASA’s Aqua satellite.

Casting A Long Shadow

This is an image of Antarctica during a total solar eclipse on November 23, 2003. This was captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) flying aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite.

We have written many articles about Antarctica for Universe Today. Here’s an article about the huge asteroid crater in Antarctica, and here are more pictures of Antarctica.

If you’d like more info on Antarctica and other Antarctica pictures, check out Visible Earth Homepage. And here’s a link to NASA’s Earth Observatory.

We’ve also recorded an episode of Astronomy Cast all about planet Earth. Listen here, Episode 51: Earth.

Tagged as: antarctica, earth from space, ice, ice shelf, icebergs