Universe Today

If you're looking for a satellite photo, this is probably one of the best times in recent history. There are thousands of satellites orbiting the Earth, taking photos of the ground, and many of these images are available through the internet for free.

If you're looking for a satellite photo of a specific spot on Earth, I'd suggest starting with Google Maps. This is a web-based tool from Google that shows you a satellite image of the whole Earth. You can drag the map around, and zoom in and out with your mouse scroll wheel. You can also type in a specific street address, and Google Maps will center the satellite image right over that location. In many cities the satellite photos are capture at 41 cm resolution, so you can easily see your house, car out front and even more.

Another great tool from Google is Google Earth. You install the Google Earth application to your computer; they have versions for PCs, Macs, and Linux machines. When you run the program, you see a 3-dimensional view of the Earth. You can spin it, zoom around, in and out. You can see different overlays, street views, satellite views, and even contour maps. Google Earth also has really good printing function, so once you've found the satellite photo you want, you can print a copy off pretty easily.

Those are great tools from Google if you want to see a specific spot on Earth. But if you just want to see some of the best satellite photos ever taken, for example of famous landmarks or geographical features, there are several other resources. Check out NASA's Earth Observatory. They highlight a different image every day, and have a huge catalog of other images. There are some other cool tools from NASA, like NASA Earth From Space, which are photos of Earth taken by astronauts. You should also check out NASA Visible Earth, which has some favorite images of the planet, like the famous "Blue Marble".

There are also the commercial satellite photo suppliers. For example, GeoEye supplies many of the photographs used by Google Earth and Google Maps. You can see some of the best images from their collection, and even order images to get as a poster.

We have written many articles about how satellite photos are used to help scientists understand the Earth. Here's an article about wildfires in California. And here's an article about bushfires in Australia.

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

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If you've spent any time on the internet, you've probably had a chance to use either Google Earth or Google Maps. Both of these tools allow you to see a satellite view of the Earth, and zoom right in to see your home from space. But is there a Google satellite to take these photographs?

Google doesn't actually have a satellite of their own. Instead, they use images from a variety of sources and store them on their servers. These images come from NASA satellites, USGS aerial surveys, and satellite photos from commercial operators. Google has an exclusive contract with a company called GeoEye, which recently launched their GeoEye-1 satellite. This commercial satellite blasted off on September 6, 2008, and is capable of resolving images on the Earth down to a size of 0.41 meters.

So how can you use these images? The easiest tool to use is Google Maps. This is a web-based tool that lets you browse around satellite photos of the Earth. You can zoom in and out, and type in a specific address anywhere on Earth to go right there. It also has driving directions, and all kinds of features that you can turn on and off to give you more information – like local sightseeing highlights.

The other tool that Google has created is called Google Earth. Unlike Google Maps, you actually need to download Google Earth to your local computer; PC, Mac, Linux, and even on your iPhone. Once you have the application installed, you see a 3-D version of the Earth that you can spin around, zoom in and out. You can zero in to any spot on Earth and see the highest resolution images they have available. There's also a big community of developers who have created additional views that you can install. This lets you see additional photographs, contour maps, etc.

We have written many articles about Google satellite views. Here's an article about how Google's satellite had a bird's eye view of the Obama Inauguration, and here's a tool for Google Earth that lets you track satellite debris.

We've also recorded several episodes of Astronomy Cast about satellites. Listen here, Episode 100: Rockets.

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When the first Landsat Earth-observing satellite launched in 1972, virtually every piece of technology that we think of as essential for viewing, sharing, or analyzing digital images — like the internet or DVD's — either hadn’t been invented or commercialized, like the microprocessors that run desktop computers. “It cost about $4,000 for a single Landsat image, and it takes about 9,000 of them to map the land area of the globe,” said Jeff Masek, from NASA. "To make a global image for just one time period would have cost $36 million." But now, in this age where everything is digital and it's easy to exchange information, anyone can download Landsat images for free. Recently, NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey put the finishing touches on a new collection of mapped images covering the entire land surface of the Earth. However, if you want the entire full-size version, it would be as big as the Hoover Dam.
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Title this one "Rich Blue Crescent" (as opposed to Pale Blue Dot.) This spectacular image of our home planet was captured by the OSIRIS instrument on ESA's Rosetta comet chaser today (November 12) at 12:28 GMT from about 633,000 km as the spacecraft approached Earth for the third and final swingby. Closest approach is due at 07:45 GMT, on November 13. You can follow Rosetta's progress at ESA's Rosetta site and the Rosetta Blog.

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Every now and then I go looking for a free satellite view of my house. It's amazing what's available through the internet now, totally free. Thanks to commercial Earth observation satellites, and internet tools that make these photos accessible through the internet, it's easy to see your house from space.

The best tool on the market, in my opinion, is the service from Google Maps. All you need is a web browser and a connection to the internet. When you first start up, Google Maps displays a satellite view of North America. You can then zoom in, or pan the camera around to see any location on Earth. You can also type in the address of the location that you want to see. Once you do that, you'll get a free satellite view of your house. You can save the image or print it off.

Another cool tool from Google is Google Earth. You can access by going to http://earth.google.com. The main difference between Google Maps and Google Earth is that you have to download and install Earth on your local computer (they have a version for PCs, Mac, Linux, and even the iPhone). Once you've downloaded and installed Google Earth, you can see a 3-dimensional view of Earth that you can zoom in and out and spin around. You can type in your address and get a view of your house from above. I actually like the printing function of Google Earth better, since it's using your printer directly, and not going through the web browser.

And if you really hate using products from Google, no problem. There are similar services from Yahoo and Microsoft. Microsoft's mapping service used to be called MSN Maps, and now it's been changed to Bing Maps with their new identity. The Yahoo service is called Yahoo Maps, and it's very similar to Google Maps. The two services do have some big differences, though, and there's a cool application that lets you see the two of them side-by-side. I used it for my home and found that Google Maps has better resolution maps for my city.

Please keep in mind that all of the free satellite images you're accessing were taken over the last few years. In some cases the images might be a decade old. If you're hoping for a live satellite view of your house, that's still a few years off.

We have written many articles for Universe Today about how satellites are changing our view of the Earth. Here's an article with images of the 2009 brushfires in Australia, and here are some images of the Red River flooding.

We have also recorded an episode of Astronomy Cast just about our home planet. Listen here, Episode 51: Earth.

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Okay, we've seen pictures of islands, mountains and even disasters from space. And maybe it's just my ego, but the coolest of satellite pictures: my house. Or your house. Or really, houses in general. It's all possible because satellite technology for Earth observation has been linked up with cool tools available through the internet. Let's see some resources you can access, for free.

If I was looking for satellite pictures of my house, I'd start with Google Maps. This is a free service from Google that you can access from any web browser. You just type in the address of the location that you want to access, and Google will center the satellite map right over top of it. You might want to zoom in a little bit, down to its best resolution. Then you can print off a picture of your house, seen from satellite. Very cool stuff. Google Maps lets you also get driving directions, see nearby landmarks, get traffic information, and even browse photographs that other people have taken of the same region.

An even cooler tool is Google Earth. But unlike Google Maps, you need to download and install Google Earth on your local computer. Don't worry, they have a version for PCs, Macs, Linux computers, and even the iPhone. The iPhone version really blows me away. If you had said 10 years ago that I would have a little virtual version of the Earth that I could access from almost anywhere, I would have thought you were crazy. Google Earth gives you a 3-D version of the Earth that you can spin around and zoom in and out. There are many layers and modules you can install that give you additional views of the planet.

If you don't want to use Google, there are similar services offered from Yahoo and Microsoft. Yahoo's service is called Yahoo Maps, and Microsoft's is called Bing Maps.

We have written many articles here on Universe Today about people taking pictures of Earth from space. Here are some nice pictures of Earth from space at night. And here are some pictures of islands from space.

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Every few months I look for satellite images of my house. It's amazing to see how quickly satellite imaging technology is advancing, and how this information is all available through the internet for anyone to look at it for free. If you had told me this would all be available 10 years ago, I would have said you were lying. Let's take a look at some cool resources for satellite images.

Probably the best and easiest tool to access is Google Maps. This is a free service from Google that you can access from any web browser connected to the internet. It starts out with a satellite view of North America, but you can drag this around to any spot on Earth. And you can use your mouse's scroll-wheel to zoom in and out. In many cases you can zoom right in to see such a high resolution image of Earth that you can make out your car parked in the drive way. You can also type in any address on Earth and the service will zoom right in. In addition to these cool satellite images of my house, Google Maps also has driving directions and other layers you can put over top, like photos of landmarks.

An even cooler tool is Google Earth. Unlike Google Maps, you actually download and install Google Earth to your local computer: PC, Mac, Linux and there's even an iPhone app. Once you've got it running, you see a 3-dimensional version of Earth floating in space. You can grab the world and spin it, or zoom in and out to any spot on the planet. You can find a location by typing in its address. I like Google Earth better than Google Maps when I want to print off a satellite image (say, of my house).

If you really don't want to use Google, there are similar services offered by Yahoo and Microsoft. Microsoft's service is called Bing Maps (it used to be MSN Maps). Yahoo's service is called, you guessed it: Yahoo Maps. When you first try out Yahoo Maps, it seems identical to Google Maps, but there are some differences. A cool way to see which one's better for you is this website that puts up Google Maps and Yahoo maps side-by-side so you can compare them.

You should also keep in mind that all of the satellite images that you're seeing were captured at some point in the last couple of years. There are no services that will let you see a live satellite view of your house. So you could stand in your driveway, look up and wave to the satellite. Not yet, anyway…

We have written many articles here in Universe Today about how scientists are capturing satellite images of Earth. Here's an article about the CALIPSO satellite starting its scientific observations, and here's an article about satellites showing bushfire devastation in Australia.

And we've recorded an entire episode of Astronomy Cast just about our home planet. Listen here, Episode 51: Earth.

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Just the other day I was wondering how I could get a free satellite image of my house. There are so many resources available through the internet these days that you have many options. They're all available through the internet, and they're all free. We live in a pretty amazing time, when you think of it.

Probably the best, and easiest, place to get a free satellite image is from Google Maps. This is a free service from Google that you can access from any web browser. It dynamically loads up images from Google's server showing any spot on Earth. As you drag the satellite image around, it accesses new maps to continue showing you a view from space. You can zoom in, and it shows you higher resolution images, and you can zoom back out again. You can also type in a specific address and it will zoom right in on that location, anywhere on Earth. Google Maps also has some additional tools, like street maps, and driving directions. And there are many tools that have been built on top of Google Maps to let you find and map anything.

An even cooler tool than Google Maps is Google Earth. Unlike Google Maps, though, you need to install Google Earth onto your computer. They have a version for PC, Mac, Linux, and even the iPhone. Once you've installed the software, you can see a cool 3-D spinning planet Earth. You can zoom in and out, and spin the planet around. It's very similar to Google Maps, with driving directions and finding locations, but it also has a lot of cool modules and overlays that you can install. These can show you nearby landmarks and image galleries that other people have seen.

If you don't want to use Google, no problem, both Microsoft and Yahoo have developed alternatives. Microsoft's mapping tool is called Bing Maps, and it was recently updated with the release of Bing. Yahoo's service is called Yahoo Maps. If you're not sure what to choose, between Google and Yahoo, check out this cool tool that lets you see the two mapping systems side-by-side. When I was looking for a satellite image of my house, I noticed the Yahoo doesn't have as high resolution for my area, but it might be the opposite for other areas, so you should check it out for yourself.

We have written many articles here on Universe Today about how scientists use satellites to study the Earth from above. Here's an article about the GOCE satellite that's mapping the Earth's gravity, and how you can watch satellite data in action.

We have also recorded an entire episode of Astronomy Cast just about the planet we live on. Check it out, Episode 51: Earth.

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You know that technology is increasing at an accelerating pace when we can do things that were unimaginable just a decade ago. For example, you can "Satellite Map My House", for free, through the internet using any computer. We live in amazing times.

Probably the best place to get a satellite map is from the free online service from Google Maps. You can access this from any web browser; you don't need any special software. You just type in the address of the location that you want to visit, and you'll see a satellite map of that location. You can drag the satellite view around, and zoom in and out. The service also has driving directions, and additional layers you can put over top, to see ground contours and street maps. And it's all totally free.

An even cooler tool from Google is called Google Earth. Unlike Google Maps, you have to actually download Google Earth to your computer. They have a version that works for PCs, Macs, Linux, and there's even an iPhone version. You install the application and run it and then you'll see a cool 3-D rotating planet Earth. You can grab the planet and spin it around, and then zoom in to any location on the planet. You can also locate a place on Earth by its address. And as with Google Maps, there are additional modules and layers you can install that show you photos of landmarks, streets and other cool views.

If you don't want to use Google, there are similar online applications from Microsoft and Yahoo. Microsoft's service is called Bing Maps, and Yahoo's is called, not surprisingly, Yahoo Maps. The services are incredibly similar, but if you want to see a cool tool that lets you compare Google versus Yahoo, check out this tool.

We have written many articles about using satellites to observe Earth. Here's an article about how Google got a view of Obama's inauguration from space, and here's the truth on live satellite images.

We have also recorded an entire episode of Astronomy Cast just about our home planet. Listen here, Episode 51: Earth.

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Let's take a look at some cool images of Earth from Space. Before we do, though, I'd like to give you some links to resources on the Internet where you can download as many images of Earth from Space as you can handle.

My favorite NASA site is called, Earth from Space. And that's just what it is. These are pictures of our planet captured by astronauts on board the International Space Station and the space shuttle. And this is just a tiny bit of an even larger database of images called the Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth. At last count, this database had almost 1 million images in it.

Another great site is called NASA Earth Observatory, and another is called NASA's Visible Earth.

You can often get nice images from the NASA homepage's Image of the Day, and there's the famous Astronomy Picture of the Day.

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Here's an image of Earth taken by the space shuttle. That's the Sinai peninsula surrounded by the Mediterranean and the Red Sea.

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This is the famous Blue Marble Earth photograph that was captured by the astronauts on board the Apollo 17 mission. They captured this photograph when they were approximately 29,000 km from Earth.

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Here's the famous Earthrise picture, captured by the crew of Apollo 8 as it was completing an orbit around the far side of the Moon. As the spacecraft was orbiting around, the Earth appeared to rise above the horizon.

We have written many articles about observing Earth from space for Universe Today. Here's an article about the Earth and Moon, seen from Mars, and here's an article about live streaming video from the space station.

And we've recorded many episodes of Astronomy Cast about our planet. Listen here, Episode 51: Earth.

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There are some amazing resources for satellite images on the Internet. You can access these images for free, from any web browser. And some people say that space exploration is a waste of time…

I'd say your best tool for accessing satellite images of Earth comes from Google Maps. This is a service you can access with any web browser, from any computer with an Internet connection. You can see a street map view, or a satellite view, or a hybrid version that shows both. You just type in the address that you want to see, and you instantly see a satellite image of that location on Earth. The resolution is so good that I can make out my car parked in the street in front of my house. You can also drag the map around, zoom in and out to anywhere you like.

The big advantage with Google Maps is that it just works. You don't need any special computer or software to make it work. But if you're willing to download and install an application on your computer, you should check out Google Earth. It has the same satellite pictures as Google Maps, but it's got a really cool 3-D rendered planet Earth that you can spin around, zoom in and out and find locations. You can get Google Earth for Mac, PC or Linux. There's even an iPhone version.

Google Maps is actually inspired by a similar service that we release from NASA called World Wind. It was mind blowing when it was first released, but NASA hasn't been updating it as much as Google Earth, so I'd just stick with the version from the Big G.

Another good source of satellite images is from TerraServer. One of the cool advantages of using this service is that you can order images through them if you really want a big picture on your wall. You can also get some cool images from DigitalGlobe. They actually launched one of the satellites that's responsible for all the images.

And if you don't feel comfortable using mapping services from Google, there are competing products to Google Maps available from Microsoft and Yahoo. Microsoft's version is called Bing Maps, and Yahoo has Yahoo Maps.

We have written many articles about satellite images for Universe Today. Here's an article about satellite photos of wildfires in California, and here are images of the Red River flooding.

And we have recorded an episode of Astronomy Cast all about our home planet. Listen here, Episode 51: Earth.

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There are thousands of satellites overhead in space right now, and many of them are being used to map every single square meter of planet Earth. And many of these images are being freely distributed on the Internet so you can access them through any browser. If you're looking for a satellite map, there are many services out there that can help you out.

Probably the easiest and best place to start is with the Google Maps service from Google. This allows you to see a satellite map of the entire Earth. You can drag around the map to browse around the planet, and you can zoom out and in right down to the highest resolution images they have in their server. In many cases this means you can see your house, your yard, and even your car parked out in the street. You can also type in a specific address location and go straight there. There are street maps you can overlay or remove, you can get driving directions, and much more. And the Google Maps API has been made available by Google to other websites, so people are developing mashups that let you track running routes and find the nearest bathroom.

An even cooler satellite mapping service is Google Earth. Unlike Google Maps, you have to download Google Earth to your local PC, Mac or Linux machine (there's even an iPhone version). Then you get this cool spinning 3-D version of the Earth. You can zoom out and in, type in a specific location address or geocode to find any spot on Earth. They also have a big library of additional layers that you can put over top, to see additional information mapped on the Earth. It's well worth the download.

Another good service is TerraServer; they let you buy satellite maps if you want a nice printed version for your wall. If you don't want to use Google, there are similar mapping tools from Microsoft and Yahoo.

We have written many articles about how satellites are being used to map the Earth. Here's an article about how scientists use satellite photos to track penguin poop from space, and how Google's maps had a satellite view of Obama's inauguration.

We have also recorded an episode of Astronomy Cast all about Earth. Listen here, Episode 51: Planet Earth.

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One of the greatest advances from the Internet is the fact that you can now look at satellite maps on web… for free. How cool is that. You can see your own house from space, or pretty much any where else on Earth. These satellite images are beautiful, and interesting and informative. So let's go through a list of the best resources we've found for satellite maps on the Internet.

Let's start with the biggest and best tool for seeing maps of Earth from space: Google Maps. You can access this tool from any web browser, and allows you to navigate around the entire Earth. You can zoom in and out, and even type in a specific address or coordinate, and Google Maps will show you a bird's eye view. You can get driving directions, and put various overlays that let you see points of interest, street maps, and more. If you were going to use one tool, I'd probably suggest Google Maps.

Of course, there are many tools out there. Next up is Google Earth. Unlike Google Maps, this is a software application that you download to your local computer and run. It works with PC, Linux or Mac (and even iPhone). It has the same kind of data as Google Maps, but it's really really pretty. You get a 3-D spinning globe that you can spin around, zoom in and out, find locations and browse around. It's also got a great set of additional layers and plugins that you can install that give you even more geographic information. It's a great tool, and you'll spend hours wasted in it.

If you don't want to use Google, there are similar mapping services from Microsoft and Yahoo. You can also get some really nice images from TerraServer. One of their cool features is that you can purchase satellite images online. You can also try out TerraFly.

Keep in mind that all of the satellite mapping services are just a front end for the data that has been gathered by various satellites. You can go right to the source and see their original data. There's DigitalGlobe, and the GOES Weather Satellites.

We have written many articles about satellite maps for Universe Today. Here's an article about you can find satellite images of your house, and here are some satellite images of the 2009 bushfires in Australia.

We have also recorded an entire episode of Astronomy Cast just about rocketry. Listen here, Episode 100: Rockets.

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Want to see an image of our house… from space?! Well, there are many free tools available on the Internet that let me see a satellite view of my house, and you'll be able to do it too.

Probably the best and easiest tool to use comes from Google Maps. This is a service you can access with any web browser, like Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, or Google Chrome. You just point your browser at http://maps.google.com. You can see street maps or a satellite view of any location on Earth. You can drag the maps around, zoom in and out, or type in a specific location and go straight there. In some cases Google even has a street level view of cities, so you can see right down from the ground.

An even cooler tool is Google Earth, also from Google. Unlike Google Maps, you have to download Google Earth to your computer – PC or Mac (they even have an iPhone version). You see a 3-D view of Earth, which pulls live image data from the Google servers. You can then rotate this planet, zoom in and out to see any location. They also have additional layers you can apply and even modules you can download that let you see additional data.

If you don't want to use Google, there are similar services from Microsoft and Yahoo.

Please keep in mind that the satellite view in all these images is delayed by a few months or even a few years. The satellite captured the images during its orbit and then transmitted them down to Earth so they could processed and added to the map databases. There are no live services that let you see the view from a satellite in real time. You can't step outside your house and look up and wave to the satellite… yet.

We have written many articles about seeing the Earth from space. Here's an article about how the Google satellite watched the Obama inauguration from space, and here are some satellite images of Australian bushfires.

We have recorded an entire episode of Astronomy Cast just about our planet. Listen here, Episode 51: Earth.

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There are some incredible resources for satellite images on the Internet, and many of them are totally free. Unfortunately, there's nothing available that provide free live satellite images. All of the photographs have been taken by satellites in the last few months and years, so there's no way you can just stand outside and look up into space and wave to the satellite. Maybe in a few years…

Anyway, if you want to see a satellite view of your house, probably the best tool is Google Maps. Just point your browser at http://maps.google.com. This gives you a satellite view of the whole Earth. You can move around and zoom in and out. Or you can type in an address and the system will take you right to that location on Earth. In some cities they even have a street level view of locations so you can zoom right in.

Another great tool for viewing locations on Earth from above is Google Earth. Unlike Google Maps, you download this application to your local computer (PC, Mac and eve iPhone). It gives you a cool 3-D version of the Earth that you can spin around, zoom in and out; right into the street level view. The application has additional layers that you can apply or install that let you see tourist locations, physical features, and other scientific data. It's an amazing program.

If you don't want to use a tool from Google, there are also mapping systems available from Microsoft and Yahoo.

We have written many articles about seeing Earth from space with satellites. Here's an article about fires and floods seen from space, and here's an article about how scientists see penguins from space.

We have recorded an episode of Astronomy Cast all about our planet. Listen here, Episode 51: Earth.

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