This image is a montage of high resolutions photographs of the Earth taken in January 2012 by the Visible/Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument on the Suomi NPP satellite. The image shows many stunning details of <a href="http://www.windows2universe.org/earth/earth.html">our home planet</a> - <a href="http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/multimedia/gallery/VIIRS_4Jan2012.jpg">particularly at high resolution</a>. The beauty of our planet is obvious from space - our blue <a href="http://www.windows2universe.org/earth/Water/overview.html">waters</a>, our white <a href="http://www.windows2universe.org/earth/Atmosphere/cloud.html">clouds</a>, and the green from <a href="http://www.windows2universe.org/earth/Life/life.html">life</a> abundant at the surface.<p><small><em>Image courtesy of NASA</em></small></p>On May 20, 2013, a massive EF5 <a href="http://www.windows2universe.org/earth/Atmosphere/tornado.html">tornado</a> hit Moore, Oklahoma, devastating communities and lives. The tornado, on the ground for 40 minutes, took a path through a subdivision of homes, destroying block after block of homes, and hitting two elementary schools just as school was ending as well as a hospital. Hundreds of people were injured, and 24 were killed.<p><small><em>Image courtesy of Ks0stm, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license</em></small></p><p>Something on Earth is always burning! NASA's Earth Observatory tracks wildfires across the world with <a href="http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/GlobalMaps/view.php?d1=MOD14A1_M_FIRE" target="_blank">maps available for viewing</a> from 2000-present. Some wildfires can restore <a href="/earth/ecosystems.html">ecosystems</a> to good health, but many can threaten human populations, posing a natural disaster threat.</p> <p>Check out the materials about natural disasters in <a href="/earth/natural_hazards/when_nature_strikes.html">NBC Learn Videos</a>, and their earth system science connections built up by the related secondary classroom activities.</p><p><small><em>NBC Learn</em></small></p><p>The United Nations <a href="http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/PAND_report.pdf" target="_blank">estimated</a> that between 1994-2015, there were 6,873 natural disasters worldwide, which affected 218 million people and claimed 1.35 million lives. </p> <p>Check out the materials about natural disasters in <a href="/earth/natural_hazards/when_nature_strikes.html">NBC Learn Videos</a>, and their earth system science connections built up by the related secondary classroom activities.</p><p><small><em>NBC Learn</em></small></p>An artist's rendering of the moment of impact of a massive <a href="/our_solar_system/meteors/meteors.html">meteorite</a> at the end of the Cretaceous (at the end of the <a href="/earth/geology/hist_mesozoic.html">Mesozoic Era</a>). Many scientists have concluded for decades that a meteorite four to six kilometers in diameter impacted the Earth at this time, resulting in a <a href="/earth/past/KTextinction.html">mass extinction of dinosaurs</a> and many other life forms. Recent research suggests that perhaps <a href="/headline_universe/olpa/chicxulub.html">massive volcanic eruptions</a> may be been responsible for the extinction.<p><small><em>Courtesy of Don Davis, NASA</em></small></p>Lunar eclipses are special events that only occur when certain conditions are met. First of all, the Moon must be in <a href="/the_universe/uts/moon3.html">full phase</a>. Secondly, the <a href="/sun/sun.html">Sun</a>, <a href="/earth/earth.html">Earth</a> and <a href="/earth/moons_and_rings.html">Moon</a> must be in a perfectly straight line. If both of these are met, then the Earth's shadow can block the Sun's light from hitting the Moon. The reddish glow of the Moon is caused by light from the Earth's limb scattering toward the Moon, which is reflected back to us from the Moon's surface.<p><small><em>Image credit - Doug Murray, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida</em></small></p>


Attention Educator Member Teachers! Go to our special offers page for information about attractive upcoming professional development events next year. Not an Educator Member? Join Today!
Check out resources from our Affiliates!

Global locations of visitors using this page right now

Welcome to Windows to the Universe - your portal to discovery! Explore the wealth of information available here to learn about the Earth and Space sciences and related topics in the humanities including mythology, art, poetry, and more.

Our mobile website version is available now on your phone's web browser and give us feedback.

NEW Subscription Opportunities for Educators and their Students! - Classroom, School, and District Subscription Options.

Windows to the Universe Professional Development - On-site, in your school - find out more about this opportunity here. Information about our upcoming workshops and events is available on our Teacher Resources/Workshops page.

Video About Ocean Dead Zones

Oceanographers are using robotic undersea "gliders" to study "dead zones" in the seas. View this video from the National Science Foundation ...Read more
Brought to you by NSF

Clouds in Art

Landscape painters have been representing clouds in their art for centuries. Different artists with different styles have painted clouds differently. Check out the Clouds in Art Interactive ...Read more
Brought to you by CMMAP

Space Weather Multimedia Gallery

Animations, images, and videos portraying space weather and solar activity. Watch sunspots form and see aurora shimmer and dance across the skies ...Read more
Brought to you by CISM

What Is an Earthquake?

Earthquakes happen as large blocks of the Earth’s crust move suddenly past one another because of the force of plate tectonics. These blocks of the Earth’s crust meet at cracks called faults ...Read more

Neptune

Neptune is an ice giant planet; smaller than the gas giants Jupiter and Saturn but much larger than Earth. Neptune has more than a dozen moons and a faint ring system. It is the 8th planet from the Sun ...Read more

Historical Events

Full Earth and Space Science    History Calendar (Members only)

Teacher Opportunities

Full Teacher Events Calendar (Educator Members only)

Buried Treasure!

Jupiter's Aurora

Jupiter's aurora is a very powerful source of energy. It produces much more power (about a million MegaWatts)...Read more


Windows to the Universe, a project of the National Earth Science Teachers Association, is sponsored in part is sponsored in part through grants from federal agencies (NASA and NOAA), and partnerships with affiliated organizations, including the American Geophysical Union, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Earth System Information Partnership, the American Meteorological Society, the National Center for Science Education, and TERC. The American Geophysical Union and the American Geosciences Institute are Windows to the Universe Founding Partners. NESTA welcomes new Institutional Affiliates in support of our ongoing programs, as well as collaborations on new projects. Contact NESTA for more information. NASA ESIP NCSE HHMI AGU AGI AMS NOAA