NASA’s Top Photos Taken from the International Space Station in 2020

The astronauts who work on the International Space Station (ISS) have some of the best views of our planet that can be imagined. Thousands of photos of that view are captured every year, but which ones are NASA’s favorites?

The folks at the Earth and Science Remote Sensing Unit at NASA’s Johnson Space Center selected their Top 20 favorite images captured in 2020, shared from the Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth. There are hundreds and hundreds of truly breathtaking images worth perusing, but below are the top picks from NASA from the last year.

After the last year, it is particularly calming to just look at the beauty of Earth from above.

Cuba and the Bahamas | Nikon D5, 16mm

Cooper Creek, Australia | Nikon D5, 16mm

Corsica in Sunlight | Nikon D5, 58mm

Dust Over Cyprus | Nikon D5, 50mm

Fall Colors Near Ottawa, Canada | Nikon D5, 800mm

The Great Lakes | Nikon D5, 50mm

Kerguelen Islands | Nikon D5, 78mm

Wind Farms on Maui | Nikon D5, 1600mm

Moonrise over southern Atlantic Ocean | Nikon D4, 125mm

Lakes and Fires, southern Kenya | Nikon D5, 50mm

Sunrise over Great Australian Bight | Nikon D5, 70mm

Paris at Night | Nikon D5, 400mm

Flooding Along the Nile in Sudan | Nikon D5, 800mm

New Zealand | Nikon D5, 50mm

Western Australia | Nikon D4, 56mm

Airglow Above Western Indian Ocean | Nikon D5, 28mm

Dust Plume Over Southern Argentina | Nikon D5, 170mm

Reefs of Moindou Bay, New Caledonia | Nikon D5, 800mm

Cloud Swirl Above Northern Sahara Desert | Nikon D5, 28mm

Earth and Moon from Crew Dragon | Nikon D5, 14mm

All of the images were taken with either a Nikon D4 or Nikon D5 and a host of different focal lengths. It’s interesting to see the different perspectives offered from the ISS depending on the focal length the photographer chose. For more images like these, current ISS astronaut Soichi Noguchi has been uploading images he’s taken from the space station since he joined the crew late last year.

For more from the Johnson Space Center, you can subscribe to their YouTube Channel.

(via Digital Trends)