let's visit earth

All About Earth

Our home planet Earth is a rocky, terrestrial planet. It has a solid and active surface with mountains, valleys, canyons, plains and so much more. Earth is special because it is an ocean planet. Water covers 70% of Earth's surface.

Explore Earth! Click and drag to rotate Earth. Scroll or pinch to zoom in and out. Credit: NASA Visualization Technology Applications and Development (VTAD)

Our atmosphere is made mostly of nitrogen and has plenty of oxygen for us to breathe. The atmosphere also protects us from incoming meteoroids , most of which break up in our atmosphere before they can strike the surface as meteorites.

Since we live here, you might think we know all there is to know about Earth. Not at all, actually! We have a lot we can learn about our home planet. Right now, there are many satellites orbiting Earth taking pictures and measurements. This is how we can learn more about weather, oceans, soil, climate change , and many other important topics.

Structure and Surface

• Earth is a terrestrial planet. It is small and rocky.
• Earth's atmosphere is the right thickness to keep the planet warm so living things like us can be there. It’s the only planet in our solar system we know of that supports life. It is mostly nitrogen, and it has plenty of oxygen for us to breathe.

Time on Earth

• A day on Earth lasts a little under 24 hours.
• One year on Earth lasts 365.25 days. That 0.25 extra means every four years we need to add one day to our calendar. We call it a leap day (in a leap year ).

Earth’s Neighbors

• Earth has just one Moon. It is the only planet to have just one moon.
• Earth has lots of spacecraft watching it. There is still a lot we can learn about our home planet.
• Earth is the third planet from the Sun in our solar system. That means Venus and Mars are Earth’s neighboring planets.

Quick History

• We have known about our planet since ancient times, of course. But we didn’t know our place in the solar system for a long time.

What does Earth look like?

This Apollo 11 picture taken by an astronaut in 1969 shows the Earth rising over the Moon. Doesn't it look small?

This is a view of Earth looking just at the northern portion.

A NASA camera on the Deep Space Climate Observatory satellite took this picture of the entire sunlit side of Earth from one million miles away.

For more information visit:

Earth. Your home. Our Mission.

Related Resources for Educators

Real World: A-Train Our World: A-Train Real World: Earth Systems

Explore the Solar System

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The website that lets you experience the world from home!

Walk Around 100+ Cities Around The Globe! Admire the beautiful scenery and street sounds.

Guess your location from your surroundings and walk around & admire the beautiful scenery!

Drive around and view the scenery from 100+ cities around the globe. Admire the beautiful sights!

Explore the world by walking, driving, flying, and viewing live footage of different locations around the world.

View LIVE Footage from different cities around the world. Enjoy!

Enjoy the view from above for over 80+ cities from around the globe/world.

Explore different famous & not famous monuments from around the world.

Click on cities on a map to view videos from that city!

Experience window views from hundreds of different cities.

Experience road trips by virtually driving between cities.

Guessing Game

Can you recognize where a city is just my walking around it? If so, give this game a go!

Want to help Virtual Vacation out? Give us a share and give others the gift of travel!

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Age of Humans

A Smithsonian magazine special report

Travel Through Deep Time With This Interactive Earth

Explore key moments in Earth’s transformative history as continents drift and climate fluctuates over 4.6 billion years

Victoria Jaggard; Interactive by International Mapping; Paleogeographic maps by Ron Blakey

Earth is a planet defined by change, swinging through periods of intense heat and deep freeze even as oceans and continents are reshaped by the actions of plate tectonics . This constant reconfiguration has been a huge driver in the development of life on Earth. But scientists agree that human activity has now begun to influence the planet, changing the climate and drastically altering surface conditions.

Understanding how humans are affecting Earth’s system requires a better grasp on the natural cycles and events that have shaped our planet through deep time . Slide through the timeline above to explore how the globe has changed over seven major “snapshots” in our climate history, and to see how it might look in the far future.

Alex Tait is Vice President of International Mapping in Ellicott City, Maryland.

Tim Montenyohl is a 3-D Artist and Animator at International Mapping.

Ron Blakey is professor emeritus of geology at Northern Arizona University and founder of Colorado Plateau Geosystems Inc .

Get the latest Science stories in your inbox.

Google Earth

Earth has a new look, create with streamlined actions.

The new menu bar & keyboard shortcuts make your favorite geospatial tools easier to use than ever

Collaborate with your team

Projects saved to Google Drive can be shared and edited like Docs and Sheets, making collaboration a breeze

Visualize your data

Add placemarks to highlight key locations in your project, draw lines and shapes directly on the globe, and import KML files

Work across your devices

Use your phone to add places, images, and videos to your maps. Then, pick it up from your browser later.

Tell your story

Showcase an interactive slideshow of your project

• Google Earth on web Examine the world without leaving your desk. Available on Chrome and other browsers.
• Google Earth on mobile Create maps with advanced geospatial features on PC, Mac, or Linux
• Google Earth Pro on desktop Create maps with advanced tools on PC, Mac, or Linux.

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LetsVisitEarth

Welcome to ViewSpace

Hero interactive.

Explore the Universe with Interactives and Videos

About ViewSpace

What is viewspace.

ViewSpace is a free, web-based collection of digital interactives and videos highlighting the latest developments in astronomy and Earth science.

ViewSpace gives you the opportunity to explore our planet, solar system, galaxy, and universe. Provided free with the support of NASA, ViewSpace is developed by a team of scientists, educators, and communication specialists who collaborate to ensure that content is accurate, up-to-date, engaging, relevant, and accessible to a wide audience.

Interactives

ViewSpace interactives allow you to explore objects and materials from different perspectives, discovering how we can combine information to better understand the universe.

Different forms of light: Explore visible and invisible wavelengths of light that help us understand features like the dusty brim of the Sombrero Galaxy roughly 30 million light-years away.

Hidden objects: Unveil invisible light to reveal hidden objects like the stars forming inside Mystic Mountain, a pillar of gas and dust 7,500 light-years from Earth.

ViewSpace videos tell the stories of the planets, stars, galaxies, and universe, giving viewers the opportunity to experience space and Earth as seen with satellites and telescopes.

Astronomy: Explore the sky with stories told through spectacular imagery from space telescopes.

Earth science: Gain new perspectives on our home planet based on data gathered by Earth-orbiting satellites.

ViewSpace is produced by the Office of Public Outreach at the Space Telescope Science Institute , in partnership with the NASA's Universe of Learning project and NASA's Earth Observing System, Hubble Space Telescope Project, and James Webb Space Telescope Project.

ViewSpace has been exhibited in museums, planetariums, and science centers across the country since 2000.

What Will You Explore?

The Latest Discoveries in Astronomy and Astrophysics

Recent Natural Events and Satellite Views of Earth

In-depth Stories of How Science and the Universe Work

Stunning Imagery and Accessible Explanations

Sample Images from ViewSpace

What objects and materials make up the universe, and how do we study the invisible as well as the visible?

Data from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and Chandra X-Ray Observatory are used to create a map of dark matter (blue) in galaxy cluster MACS J0717.5+3745.

What are galaxies; how do they vary; and how do they form, interact, and change over time?

The Penguin and the Egg (Arp 142) is a pair of galaxies that are being distorted by their mutual gravitational attraction.

How do the Sun, planets, moons, comets, and asteroids interact as a system?

Saturn’s moon Titan casts a shadow as it passes between the planet and the Sun.

How do telescopes help us better understand the objects and materials that light up the sky?

With telescopes, we can see details of the Milky Way, including glowing clouds of dust and gas like the Lobster Nebula.

How fast is the universe expanding and what does this tell us about its past and future?

Over time, space expands, stretching the wavelenghts of light and causing the distant galaxies seen in the Ultra Deep Field image from the Hubble Space Telescope to look redder than the closer galaxies.

How do we detect and study planets orbiting other stars?

Changes in the brightness of starlight, measured by NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope, indicates the presence of a planet orbiting the star.

What happens to stars at the end of their lives, and how do stellar explosions affect the space around them?

Visible, infrared, and X-ray light from supernova remnant Cassiopeia A reveal remains of an exploded star.

How can we use interactions between light and matter to probe the deep universe?

The enormous mass of galaxy cluster Abell 370 bends the space around it, magnifying and distorting the light from more distant galaxies into arc-like streaks.

How are astronomers combining data from space and ground-based telescopes, particle detectors, and gravitational wave detectors to understand cosmic objects, processes, and events?

An artist’s illustration depicts the detection of neutrino particles and gamma rays emitted by a supermassive black hole at the center of a distant galaxy.

How and where do stars form, and how do they shape their surroundings?

Pillars of gas and dust in the Eagle Nebula are sculpted and illuminated by stellar winds and high-energy radiation of bright stars.

How can we use satellites to map, study, and monitor Earth’s land surface, oceans, and atmosphere?

An image captured by the Landsat 8 satellite in May 2018 shows active lava flows from Kilauea volcano in Hawaii.

What evidence supports our theories of how the universe formed and how it has evolved over time?

A map of the sky from the Planck Space Telescope highlights variations in the cosmic microwave background radiation—energy left over from the big bang some 13.8 billion years ago.

What tools and methods do scientists use to study Earth and space?

NASA’s Soil Moisture Active Passive satellite (SMAP) helps scientists monitor droughts, predict floods, and improve farm productivity.

Is Earth unique? Are we alone?

Observations from space telescopes have revealed thousands of exoplanets of different of sizes, compositions, temperatures, and atmospheres, including seven rocky Earth-sized planets of the TRAPPIST-1 system, 40 light-years from Earth (artist’s illustration).

Where Is ViewSpace?

ViewSpace videos are on exhibit at museums, science centers, and planetariums across the country.

ViewSpace interactives are available online.

Use the map to find a ViewSpace video location near you.

Location Spotlight

Worcester, Massachusetts

Westcave Preserve

Round Mountain, Texas

Lowell Observatory

Flagstaff, Arizona

Maryland Science Center

Baltimore, Maryland

Edelman Planetarium at Rowan University

Glassboro, New Jersey

Clark Planetarium

Salt Lake City, Utah

Becoming a ViewSpace Venue

ViewSpace provides informal learning sites with engaging, accurate, relevant, and up-to-date astronomy and Earth science content. Access to ViewSpace is free, requiring only registration, a computer or Smart TV, and persistent internet access. ViewSpace content is self-updating and videos can be set to play automatically, requiring minimal staff effort to maintain.

Join hundreds of others in featuring ViewSpace as part of your exhibits.

Who Produces and Supports ViewSpace?

ViewSpace is produced by the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland, and is provided free of charge through financial support and subject matter expertise from the NASA’s Universe of Learning project, NASA’s Earth Observing System Project Science Office, NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope Project, and NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope Project.

Funded by NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, NASA’s Universe of Learning is an integrated astrophysics STEM learning and literacy project developed through a partnership between the Space Telescope Science Institute, Caltech/IPAC, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, and Sonoma State University.

NASA’s Earth Observing System (EOS) is a coordinated series of satellites designed to observe Earth’s land, atmosphere, oceans, and biosphere. As part of the Earth Science Division of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, the EOS Project Science Office (EOSPSO) is committed to sharing information with both researchers and the general public.

The Hubble Space Telescope and James Webb Space Telescope are two of NASA’s flagship missions designed to explore and advance our understanding of the universe. The missions’ communications programs are dedicated to sharing scientific advances and making the world’s astronomical information accessible to all.

NASA's Eyes

Experience Earth, our solar system, nearby asteroids, the universe, and the spacecraft exploring them with immersive real-time 3D web-based apps. Start exploring your solar system now!

Click any of these eyes products to start exploring

Eyes on the Solar System

Real-Time 3D Data Visualization - Past, Present, Future

Eyes on Asteroids

Tracking near-Earth objects in real-time 3D

Eyes on the Earth

See the latest Earth Data in 3D

Eyes on Exoplanets

Explore alien worlds in 3D

See which missions are communicating with Earth right now

Mars Relay Network

Track real-time communications on Mars

Mars 2020 EDL

Experience the Entry Descent Landing phases of Perseverance on Mars

NASA's Eyes is a suite of 3D visualization applications that allows everyone to explore and understand real NASA data and imagery in a fun and interactive way. The apps are all run inside a regular web browser, so any device with an internet connection and a browser can run them.

Ready to explore hundreds of planets, moons, asteroids, comets, and NASA missions from start to finish? Explore now by clicking on the "Start Exploring" buttons below, each of which launch a separate window in your browser.

5 cool things to do in Eyes

Land a rover.

Land the Perseverance rover on Mars, step by step.

View in Mars 2020 EDL

Track Asteroids

See the next 5 asteroids approaching Earth.

View in Eyes on Asteroids

Pluto First Pic

See the first flyby of Pluto in 2015.

View in Eyes on the Solar System

Grand Finale

See the Cassini mission fly between the rings of Saturn and the planet itself, in the famous Grand Finale.

Check out all of the missions transmitting data to Earth, live.

View in DSN Now

Featured apps

This simulated live view of the solar system allows you to explore the planets, their moons, asteroids, comets and the spacecraft interacting with them in 3D. You can also fast-forward or rewind time, and explore the solar system as it looked from 1950 to 2050, complete with past and future NASA missions. You can follow over 150 NASA missions from start to finish with this browser-based 3D simulation that uses the most accurate data and imagery possible. Watch the Voyager spacecraft from launch in 1977 until today, see the Cassini mission fly through the ice plumes of Enceladus, ride along as OSIRIS-REx lands on an asteroid to scoop up material, see the New Horizons mission take the first close pictures of Pluto, witness the first Artemis mission circle the moon, or preview the Europa Clipper mission. You are free to roam and discover.

Explore the Solar System

Track over 30,000 asteroids that are near Earth’s orbit, see the next 5 closest approaches to Earth, and learn about current and historic NASA asteroid and comet missions in this real-time 3D simulation of the solar system.  Try out the interactive "scrolly-telling" that lets you learn about how we define a close approach or how we determine if an asteroid or comet is categorized as a "Potentially Hazardous Object." Or ride along with NASA missions as we make historical discoveries about asteroids and comets, such as the first time we landed on an asteroid, or impacted a comet. See the DART mission impact with a binary asteroid system, and much more. Eyes on Asteroids lets you track all the latest discoveries.

Track the closest Asteroids

Fly along with NASA's Earth science missions in real-time, monitor Earth's vital signs like Carbon Dioxide, Ozone and Sea Level, and see satellite imagery of the latest major weather events, all in an immersive, 3D environment. Ride along with the International Space Station, and watch the sun rise and set 16 times a day. Check out the latest Carbon Monoxide data to see if there are fires around the globe, or see the latest Precipitation and Soil Moisture data. Track dozens of NASA satellites as they take data above Earth. Watch videos and animations explaining the latest data trends, or go back in time to see past data. You can select a date range and play back global imagery and data going back twenty years, including major weather events. With Eyes on the Earth, you can track Earth's vital signs, live.

View Earth's vital signs

An exoplanet is a planet that is not in our solar system. It is estimated that there is at least one planet for every star in the galaxy, so there are a huge number to discover. Explore over 5,500 confirmed exoplanet systems in this 3D interactive simulation.  You can visit every exoplanet ever discovered and ride along with the spacecraft that found them. The app is constantly updated for the latest discoveries, and you can visit any system, compare it to our solar system, and see if any of the planets reside in the "habitable zone", indicating a possibility of life. Browse by planet type, detection method, or observatory, or see just the discoveries made by the Kepler and TESS missions. You can land on Earth and see a map of all the known exoplanets from your hometown.  

Explore Exoplanets

DSN Now (Deep Space Network)

See which spacecraft is “phoning home” with DSN Now. Every five seconds, DSN Now updates with real-time data from the ground stations of the Deep Space Network. Click on a dish to learn more about the live connection between the spacecraft and the ground. Monitor space communications 24/7 to see the live communications from space.

Explore DSN Now

Featured Earth event

Visualize the latest earth events in eyes.

Aurora Glow

A spectacular light show was visible across much of the U.S. overnight on May 11-12, 2024, caused by an unusually strong series of solar flares interacting with Earth’s protective magnetic field. The NOAA-20 satellite captured this image of the glow of the Aurora Borealis over the U.S. and Canada. This image is color enhanced, with illuminated areas shown in yellow even though the light was not necessarily yellow-colored. Cloudy areas are shown in blue, and the diagonal line breaks in the image are from different passes of the satellite.

Visualize Past Earth events

Severe Flooding in Brazil

May 9th, 2024. Multiple days of heavy rains beginning on April 27, 2024, triggered widespread flooding in southern Brazil.

Volcanic Aerosols Circulate After Eruption

April 26th, 2024. The eruption of Indonesia’s Mount Ruang volcano on April 17, 2024, sent a plume of ash and gases up t 12 miles (20 kilometers) above Earth’s surface.

Explosive Volcanic Eruption in Indonesia

April 17th, 2024. The Japanese Himawari-8 satellite captured this infrared image of an explosive eruption.

Sahara Dust Blows to Europe

April 4th, 2024. NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this image of hazy skies over northern Africa, the Mediterranean Sea, and Italy.

Snowpack Nears its Seasonal Peak

March 20th, 2024. NASA’s Terra satellite captured this image of clear skies and snow-covered mountain ranges across the Western U.S.

NASA 3D Models

The Eyes team transforms complex mission CAD models into lightweight models optimized for the web.

Download 3D Models

Europa clipper 3d model.

(gltf-binary) (34.05 MB)

Juno 3D Model

(gltf-binary) (8.76 MB)

InSight 3D Model

(gltf-binary) (21.32 MB)

Curiosity 3D Model

(gltf-binary) (11.31 MB)

List of interactive visualizations

Experience Earth, our solar system, nearby asteroids, the universe, and the spacecraft exploring them with immersive real-time 3D apps for Mac, PC, and mobile devices.

This simulated view of the solar system allows you to explore the planets, their moons, asteroids, comets and the spacecraft exploring them. You can also fast-forward or rewind time, and explore the solar system as it looked from 1950 to 2050.

Explore over 30,000 asteroids that are near Earth’s orbit, see the next 5 closest approaches to Earth, and learn about current and historic NASA asteroid and comet missions in this real-time 3D simulation of the solar system. 

Fly along with NASA's Earth science missions in real-time, monitor Earth's vital signs like Carbon Dioxide, Ozone and Sea Level, and see satellite imagery of the latest major weather events, all in an immersive, 3D environment.

Explore over 5,500 exoplanet systems in this 3D interactive simulation.  You can visit every exoplanet ever discovered and ride along with the spacecraft that found them. 

See the current, past, and future communication between Mars orbiters, Mars landers and rovers, using real data from the Mars missions themselves.  Land on the surface of Mars with the Perseverance and Curiosity rovers to see the orbiters fly overhead, or see the communication "wedges" visually from orbit.

Mars 2020 Entry Descent Landing

Experience the famous “Seven Minutes of Terror” for yourself in this step-by-step interactive 3D story simulation of the Entry, Descent, and Landing (EDL) of the Perseverance rover on the surface of Mars. Starting from orbit, follow the spacecraft as it enters the Martian atmosphere, watch the parachute deploy, and see the sky crane lower the rover gently to the ground.

Experience Curiosity

This web interactive re-creates specific days of the Curiosity rover’s mission, including drilling on Sol 908, and the creation of the famous “selfie” from Sol 868. You can also click and drag on the robotic arm, antenna, and mast to make them move, or learn about each instrument on the rover.

Experience InSight

This web interactive simulates the deployment and science operations of the Mars Insight mission.  Bring the mission to life by controlling its robotic arm and learn about the many instruments on board.

See which spacecraft is “phoning home” with DSN Now. Every five seconds, DSN Now updates with real-time data from the ground stations of the Deep Space Network. Click on a dish to learn more about the live connection between the spacecraft and the ground.

NASA's Earth Now mobile app shows the latest data from the agency's Earth-observing satellite fleet on your phone or tablet. Track storms and weather with the "Visible Earth" vital sign, use "Carbon Monoxide" to hunt for forest fires and volcanic eruptions, and more. Tap a satellite to view its 3D model and access its related data. Learn more with the "Details" button or see trends by playing an animated data sequence.

Spacecraft AR

Spacecraft AR is an augmented reality (AR) application that lets you place many different spacecraft in your immediate surroundings. Find a flat space and generate interactive 3D models right in front of you, in small or true-to-life proportions. Take pics in your favorite locations, then keep exploring with in-depth information about the spacecraft and missions.

Eclipse 2017

In this interactive, web-based 3D simulation, you can click anywhere on the Earth to view the August 21st, 2017 total eclipse.

Explore More Apps

The Near Space Network Space Relay provides near-constant communication through a constellation of GEOsynchronous satellites.

NSN DTE Now

The Near Space Network Direct-to-Earth antennas provide communication services through a blend of diverse service providers.

Contact the Eyes support team.

We will never share your email address.

Discover More Topics From NASA

Climate Change

Solar System Exploration

Science Missions

Explore Google Earth

Grab the helm and go on an adventure in Google Earth.

Google Earth lets you explore the world via satellite images on a 3D globe. Here's how to use it and make custom maps.

• Google Earth combines satellite imagery and aerial photography to create a rich picture of earth.
• You can use Google Earth online, on your smartphone or tablet, or on its desktop app — all for free.
• You can tour amazing maps all over the world and even create your own.

Google Earth is a virtual, three-dimensional globe developed by Google that uses satellite images, topographical data, aerial photography, and more to create a clear, detailed picture of our planet.

While the images are often updated frequently, Google doesn't capture them in real time. (For real-time satellite images of the Earth, you can visit NASA Worldview .)

With Google Earth, users can create custom maps that incorporate data and statistics from other sources, like population, tree cover, temperature, and more.

Even if you aren't geographically inclined, Google Earth allows you to travel the world from home, touring interactive maps of anything from lion habitats to underwater landscapes in the ocean to buildings constructed to mimic the patterns of nature.

Like Google Maps , You can access Google Earth and its mapping tools on your desktop or mobile device, and it's totally free to use.

Related stories

In 2021, Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced a new "Timelapse" feature for Google Earth, which compiled millions of satellite photos over four decades to demonstrate the "rapid environmental change" the planet has endured.

Can I use Google Earth without downloading it?

If you're just browsing cool locations around the world or zooming in on your home and neighborhood, the web version of Google Earth works well. No download required!

Google Earth web was initially only available for use on Chrome, but as of 2020 is supported by Firefox, Edge, and Opera browsers, too.

But if you're looking for more advanced features, like geographic information system (GIS) data and the ability to view older versions of images to view how a place has changed over time, you may want to download Google Earth Pro on your desktop or laptop.

What do people use Google Earth for?

Google Earth users, including non-profit organizations, scientists and geographers, and map lovers, have used the program to map sea level rise in cities around the world, geographical changes in indigenous languages, the change in forest cover over time, air pollution in London, the expansion of urban centers around the world, and much more.

People also use Google Earth every day to view locations that pique their curiosity — their houses, travel destinations, or global landmarks. Unlike Google Street View, which shows photos taken by cars, Google Earth shows satellite images from above.

Together with Google Maps, Google Images , and Google Earth, people can search and view just about any location on earth.

In 2014, a German company that had created similar 3D mapping software in the 1990s filed a lawsuit against Google claiming the Silicon Valley giant had infringed on its patent rights. Two years later, a jury in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware found in favor of Google. The case was dramatized in the 2021 Netflix series "The Billion Dollar Code."

In February 2024, in partnership with the Environmental Defense Fund, Google announced it would use Google Earth to map methane leaks around the world and make that information freely available to the public.

Google will use data from MethaneSAT, a new satellite that aims to locate the sources of methane leaks that are contributing to climate change.

On February 28, Axel Springer, Business Insider's parent company, joined 31 other media groups and filed a $2.3 billion suit against Google in Dutch court, alleging losses suffered due to the company's advertising practices.

Watch: Here's why Bellerby globes can cost over £79,000

• Main content

• Help Center
• Google Earth
• Privacy Policy
• Terms of Service
• Submit feedback
• Explore the Earth

See what places look like from the ground

These instructions are for Google Earth Pro. Get help with Google Earth for Web and Mobile.

You can see city streets, landscapes, natural features, and other landmarks as if you were there in person using the ground-level view. To view panoramic imagery, use street view .

Turn on ground-level viewing

You can see ground level views in 3D on your computer.

• Open Google Earth.

You can also see national and internal borders .

Pick & see a place

• Navigate to a place on the map .
• Your mouse or touchpad.
• Shortcut keys.
• The navigation controls.

Mobile devices

You can see how things look from the ground with  Street View in the Google Earth app.

Take a look around

To explore the area around you, you can zoom in and out, tilt the view skyward, and rotate the view any time.

Need more help?

Try these next steps:.

Google Earth

Welcome home to the new Google Earth

Apr 18, 2017

[[read-time]] min read

Nearly everyone who's opened Google Earth in the last decade does the same thing first: they search for their home. Home is how we orient ourselves—it's where we start from. This might mean a one-story craftsman in a Wisconsin suburb . Or a house made of reeds on a floating village in Peru.

Then we zoom out. We see our neighborhood, then our city, our province, our country, our continent, and eventually: our blue marble. Out in space, our planet looks impossibly small. But improbably, it’s home to all of us. On the eve of Earth Day, I'm reminded of something I've learned watching people use Google Earth over the years: Home is not just how we understand our place in the world—it’s a means to connect to something bigger than ourselves.

Explore the new Google Earth

Today we’re introducing a brand-new version of Google Earth —on the web and Android—two years in the making. With the new Earth, we want to open up different lenses for you to see the world and learn a bit about how it all fits together; to open your mind with new stories while giving you a new perspective on the locations and experiences you cherish. It’s everything you love about Google Earth, plus new ways for you to explore, learn and share. Zoom in and see what adventures await you in the new Google Earth.

Broaden your horizons with Voyager

Start with Natural Treasures from BBC Earth, and journey to six habitats—from islands to mountains to jungles—and learn about the unique and thrilling wildlife in each. Then head to Gombe National Park in Tanzania and hear from Jane Goodall about her team’s chimpanzee research and conservation efforts. And make a stop in Mexico with Lola, one of 12 little monsters featured in Sesame Street's Girl Muppets Around the World , and learn about modern Mayan cultures. With more than 50 immersive stories in Voyager, and more added weekly, there are lots of adventures to choose from.

Explore and learn about anywhere

Once you’ve landed on a point of interest, open a Knowledge Card to learn history and facts about that place and see more pictures of it. To add a dash of serendipity to your travels, flip through the stack of cards and discover related places. You might find yourself in Valencia, Spain and stumble on the beautiful Ciudad de las Artes y Las Ciencias .

Share the beauty you find

When you find a view that leaves you breathless or inspires a fond memory, share a Postcard of your exact view with your friends and family. They can click the link to jump right to where you were (virtually) standing.

Bringing it all back home

Get the new Google Earth now on the web in Chrome ; on Android as it rolls out this week; and on iOS and other browsers in the near future. (Of course, you can still access and download Google Earth 7 for desktop.) Hold it in your hand, pass it around a classroom, fly around the world and walk inside places thousands of miles away in incredible detail. Feel free to lose yourself a little—with Google Earth you can always find your way back home.

Related stories

See the planet change with new imagery in Google Earth Timelapse

13 surprising ways we've collected Street View imagery around the world

Introducing Earth Engine for governments and businesses

Land cover data just got real-time.

Helping farmers with cloud technology, up close and global

Mosquitos get the swat with new forecasting technology

Let’s stay in touch. Get the latest news from Google in your inbox.

These Free Tools Let You See the Earth From Space In Entirely New Ways

Take a trip without leaving home.

If you want to track changes in the Amazon rainforest, see the full expanse of a hurricane, or figure out where people need help after a disaster, it’s much easier to do with the view from a satellite orbiting a few hundred miles above Earth .

Traditionally, access to satellite data has been limited to researchers and professionals with expertise in remote sensing and image processing. However, the increasing availability of open-access data from government satellites such as Landsat and Sentinel, and free cloud-computing resources such as Amazon Web Services, Google Earth Engine, and Microsoft Planetary Computer, have made it possible for just about anyone to gain insight into environmental changes underway.

I work with geospatial big data as a professor. Here’s a quick tour of where you can find satellite images, plus some free, fairly simple tools that anyone can use to create time-lapse animations from satellite images.

For example, state and urban planners — or people considering a new home — can watch over time how rivers have moved , construction crept into wildland areas or a coastline eroded .

Landsat time-lapse animations show the river dynamics in Pucallpa, Peru.

A Landsat time-lapse shows the shoreline retreat in the Parc Natural del Delta, Spain.

Environmental groups can monitor deforestation, the effects of climate change on ecosystems, and how other human activities like irrigation are shrinking bodies of water like Central Asia’s Aral Sea . And disaster managers, aid groups, scientists, and anyone interested can monitor natural disasters such as volcanic eruptions and wildfires .

Putting Landsat and Sentinel to work

Over 8,000 satellites are orbiting the Earth today. You can see a live map of them at keeptrack.space .

Some transmit and receive radio signals for communications. Others provide global positioning system (GPS) services for navigation. The ones we’re interested in are Earth observation satellites, which collect images of the Earth, day and night.

Landsat: The longest-running Earth satellite mission, Landsat , has been collecting imagery of the Earth since 1972. The latest satellite in the series, Landsat 9 , was launched by NASA in September 2021.

In general, Landsat satellite data has a spatial resolution of about 100 feet (about 30 meters). If you think of pixels on a zoomed-in photo, each pixel would be 100 feet by 100 feet. Landsat has a temporal resolution of 16 days, meaning the same location on Earth is imaged approximately once every 16 days. With both Landsat 8 and 9 in orbit, we can get global coverage of the Earth once every eight days . That makes comparisons easier.

Landsat data has been freely available to the public since 2008. During the Pakistan flood of 2022 , scientists used Landsat data and free cloud-computing resources to determine the flood extent and estimate the total flooded area .

Landsat satellite images showing a side-by-side comparison of southern Pakistan in August 2021 (one year before the floods) and August 2022 (right)

Sentinel: Sentinel Earth observation satellites were launched by the European Space Agency (ESA) as part of the Copernicus program . Sentinel-2 satellites have been collecting optical imagery of the Earth since 2015 at a spatial resolution of 10 meters (33 feet) and a temporal resolution of 10 days.

GOES: The images you’ll see most often in U.S. weather forecasting come from NOAA’s Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites, or GOES . They orbit above the equator at the same speed Earth rotates , so they can continuously monitor Earth’s atmosphere and surface, giving detailed information on weather, climate, and other environmental conditions. GOES-16 and GOES-17 can image the Earth at a spatial resolution of about 1.2 miles (2 kilometers) and a temporal resolution of five to 10 minutes.

How to create your own visualizations

In the past, creating a Landsat time-lapse animation of a specific area required extensive data processing skills and several hours or even days of work. However, nowadays, free and user-friendly programs are available to enable anyone to create animations with just a few clicks in an internet browser.

For instance, I created an interactive web app for my students that anyone can use to generate time-lapse animations quickly. The user zooms in on the map to find an area of interest, then draws a rectangle around the area to save it as a GeoJSON file — a file that contains the geographic coordinates of the chosen region. Then the user uploads the GeoJSON file to the web app, chooses the satellite to view from and the dates, and submits it. It takes the app about 60 seconds to then produce a time-lapse animation.

There are several other useful tools for easily creating satellite animations. Others to try: Snazzy-EE-TS-GIF , an Earth Engine App for creating Landsat animations, and Planetary Computer Explorer , an explorer for searching and visualizing satellite imagery interactively.

This article was originally published on The Conversation by Qiusheng Wu at the University of Tennessee. Read the original article here .

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Is there evidence aliens have visited Earth? Here’s what’s come out of US congress hearings on ‘unidentified aerial phenomena’

John Curtin Distinguished Professor (Radio Astronomy), Curtin University

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The United States Congress recently held a hearing into US government information pertaining to “unidentified aerial phenomena” (UAPs).

The last investigation of this kind happened more than 50 years ago, as part of a US Air Force investigation called Project Blue Book , which examined reported sightings of unidentified flying objects (note the change in name).

The current hearings are the result of a stipulation attached to a 2020 COVID-19 relief bill , which required US Intelligence agencies to produce a report on UAPs within 180 days. That report appeared in June last year.

But why would governments be interested in UAPs? One exciting line of thought is UAPs are alien spacecraft visiting Earth. It’s a concept that gets a lot of attention, by playing on decades of sci-fi movies, views about what goes on in Area 51 , and purported sightings by the public.

A much more prosaic line of thought is governments are interested in unexplained aerial phenomena – especially those within their own sovereign airspace – because they may represent technologies developed by an adversary.

Indeed, most discussion at the recent hearing revolved around potential threats from UAPs, on the basis they were such human-made technologies.

None of the public testimony went any way towards supporting a conclusion that alien spacecraft have crashed on, or visited, Earth. The hearings did include closed classified sessions that presumably dealt with more sensitive security information.

There is no doubt unexplained phenomena have been observed, such as in footage obtained by navy pilots (above) showing fast moving airborne objects. But the leap to aliens requires far more substantial and direct evidence – incredible evidence – that can be widely scrutinised using the tools of science.

After all, the existence of life elsewhere in the universe is a fascinating question of science and society. So the search for extra-terrestrial life is a legitimate pursuit, subject to the same burden of evidence that applies to all science.

A drop in an ocean

On and off over the past decade, I’ve used radio telescopes to perform wide ranging experiments to search for technosignatures – signs of technological civilisations on planets elsewhere in our galaxy (the Milky Way). But after decades of many teams of experts using powerful telescopes, we still haven’t covered much territory.

If the Milky Way is considered equivalent to the Earth’s oceans, the sum total of our decades of searching is like taking a random swimming pool worth of water out of the ocean to search for a shark.

On top of that, we’re not even sure sharks exist and, if they do, what they would look like or how they would behave. While I believe life will almost certainly exist among the trillions of planets in the universe – the sheer scale of the universe is a problem.

Read more: Do aliens exist? We asked five experts

What would it take to make contact?

The vast volume of the universe makes it very difficult to achieve interstellar travel, receive signals, or communicate with any potential far-off lifeforms (at least according to the laws of physics as we know them).

Speeds are limited to the speed of light , which is around 300,000 km per second. It’s pretty fast. But even at that speed it would take a signal roughly four years to travel between Earth and the nearest star in our galaxy, which is four light years away.

But Einstein’s theory of special relativity tells us that, in practice, the speed of a physical object such as a spacecraft will be slower than the speed of light.

Also, thanks to the inverse square law of radiation , signals get weaker in proportion to the square of the distance they have travelled. Over interstellar distances, that’s a killer.

So for planets hundreds or thousands of light years away, travel times are likely in the many thousands of years. And any signals originating from civilisations on those planets are incredibly weak and difficult to detect.

Could it be aliens have crashed on Earth and the US government is just covering it up, as Republican Congressman Tim Burchett claimed in his reaction to the hearing ?

For airlines belonging to the International Air Transport Association, the chance of plane crash is about one in a million . That begs the question: do we think an alien spacecraft that can travel for thousands of years, across interstellar distances, is more robust and better designed than our planes?

Let’s say it’s a hundred times better. Which means the chance of a crash is one in a hundred million. So to end up with alien wreckage stashed away at Area 51, we would need one hundred million visits from alien spacecraft. That would be 2,739 visits from aliens per day, every day, for the past 100 years!

So, where are they? The near-Earth environment should be constantly buzzing with aliens.

With radars constantly scanning space , billions of mobile phone cameras, and hundreds of thousands of amateur astronomers photographing the sky (as well as professional astronomers with powerful telescopes), there should be a lot of really good evidence in the hands of the general public and scientists – not just governments.

It’s much more likely the UAPs presented in evidence are home-grown, or due to natural phenomena we don’t yet understand.

In science, Occam’s Razor is still a great starting point; the best explanation is the simplest explanation consistent with the known facts. Until there is much more – and much, much better – evidence, let’s conclude aliens haven’t visited yet.

I can’t lie though, I’m hoping I’ll see a time when that evidence exists. Until then, I’ll keep searching the skies to do my bit.

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Save the Planet Song Lyrics

Songs, Vol. 1  by  Miss Linky

Song   ·   3:10   ·   English

© 2020 Miss Linky

Let′s see what we can do To save the planet for me and you Let's see what we can do To save the planet for me and you E-A-R-T-H Planet Earth is a happy place E-A-R-T-H Planet Earth is a happy place Na-na-na-na-na, na-na-na Na-na-na-na-na, na-na-na Let′s see what we can do To save the planet for me and you Let's see what we can do To save the planet for me and you E is for the environment, keep it clean If we stand together, we'll make the best team A is for the animals that we love Swimming and walking and flying above Na-na-na-na-na, na-na-na Na-na-na-na-na, na-na-na Let′s see what we can do To save the planet for me and you Let′s see what we can do To save the planet for me and you R is for recycle, or use it again Separate your trash into the right bin T is for traveling every day Leave the car and rather walk this way Na-na-na-na-na, na-na-na Na-na-na-na-na, na-na-na Let's see what we can do To save the planet for me and you Let′s see what we can do To save the planet for me and you H is for humans, that's what we are If we work together, we can go so far E-A-R-T-H Planet Earth is a happy place Na-na-na-na-na, na-na-na Na-na-na-na-na, na-na-na Let′s see what we can do To save the planet for me and you Let's see what we can do To save the planet for me and you Let′s see what we can do To save the planet for me and you Let's see what we can do To save the planet for me and you

Writer(s): Magdalena Retief, Reinhardt Francois Retief<br>Lyrics powered by www.musixmatch.com

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NASA detects Earth-size planet just 40 light-years away that's 'not a bad place' to hunt for life

The exoplanet Gliese 12 b is tantalizingly close and moderately warm, situated just 40 light-years away around a red dwarf star. The potentially habitable planet could be a good place to search for alien life, scientists say.

Scientists using a NASA space telescope have discovered a tantalizing world. It's about the size of Earth, sits remarkably close to our solar system , and could be comfortable for life as we know it.

The extrasolar planet, or " exoplanet ," named Gliese 12 b, orbits a small and cool red dwarf star located just around 40 light-years from  Earth  in the constellation Pisces. The exoplanet — which the team found with NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) — is estimated to have a width around 1.1 times that of Earth, making it similar to our planet as well as Venus , which is often called our world's solar system "twin."

Gliese 12 b orbits its star, Gliese 12, so closely that its year lasts just 12.8 Earth days. However, because the red dwarf Gliese 12 is just around a quarter of the size of the sun, it is also much cooler than our star. This means that, even though Gliese 12 b is at a distance from its red dwarf parent equivalent to just 7% of the distance between the sun and Earth, it still is in its planetary system's habitable zone. Also known as the " Goldilocks Zone ," the habitable zone is the region around a star that is neither too hot nor too cold for planets to host liquid water, a vital ingredient for life as we know it. Though, importantly, the two teams behind the discovery of Gliese 12 b can't yet say for sure if it has an atmosphere. It therefore remains unclear if the world could be habitable, but the researchers have some cautious optimism.

Related: James Webb telescope detects 1-of-a-kind atmosphere around 'Hell Planet' in distant star system

"The majorly interesting thing is that this is a planet that's really nearby; in fact, it's one of the closest transiting planets to Earth," University College of London scientist Larissa Palethorpe, who co-led the research with University of Southern Queensland astrophysicist Shishir Dholakia, told Space.com. "It's either in the habitable zone of its star or it is right on the edge of it — so, it could be habitable."

If Earth and Venus had a child

Scientists spotted Gliese 12 b as it crossed, or "transited," the face of its parent red dwarf star. These transits cause tiny dips in light that TESS is adept at spotting. Palethorpe added that, when the team went into this project, they didn't know what the orbital period or the size of the planet would be for sure. 

"To find it to be such a similar size to Earth was kind of a lovely surprise," she continued. "So that was a really nice thing to be able to nail down, but I think especially knowing that, in terms of habitability, it could lie between Earth and Venus, is really exciting."

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Gliese 12 b receives around 85% of the radiation that Venus gets from the sun, but is thought to have a much cooler surface temperature of 107 degrees Fahrenheit (42 degrees Celsius) compared to Venus' surface temperature of 867 degrees Fahrenheit (464 degrees Celsius).

Though Earth and Venus are both in the sun's habitable zone, one can support life and has a favorable atmosphere, while the other is an inhospitable hellscape with temperatures hot enough to melt lead. Studying Gliese 12 b could help us understand why this is the case.

"Gliese 12 b could teach us a lot about how our own solar system has developed as well," Palethorpe added.

The team will now investigate whether Gliese has an atmosphere — but early indications are that, if it does, that atmosphere would be relatively thin. Perhaps surprisingly, however, the lack of a thick atmosphere is good news for the planet's  habitability prospects.

"We know some planets have very thick atmospheres of hydrogen that cover the entire planet. This very thick gas layer is actually bad news for habitability," Palethorpe's fellow UCL researcher, Vincent Van Eylen, told Space.com. "Usually, these planets are two or three times the size of Earth. Gliese 12 b is the actual size of Earth, so it probably doesn't have this very thick atmosphere. 

"It could either have  no atmosphere , which would not be great for habitability, or it would have this sort of thin atmosphere, kind of like the Earth's."

Still, even if Gliese 12 b does not have an atmosphere, it could still be an important test subject for advancing our search for life elsewhere in the Milky Way . That's because, as a red dwarf, the star it orbits happens to be the most common form of star in our galaxy — yet one we know relatively little about when it comes to red dwarf planetary systems.

Life around red dwarfs 

In the Milky Way, red dwarfs comprise the largest family of stars that are still fusing hydrogen to helium in their cores, a process that defines the so-called "main sequence" lifetime of a star. It is estimated that 60% to 70% of the stars in our galaxy are red dwarfs like Gliese 12, and of the 30 stars closest to Earth, at least 20 are red dwarfs.

"It's interesting to know about planets around the small stars, what they might be like, and whether such planets could have life," Van Eylen added.

Officially known as K-type or M-type stars, red dwarfs have between 7.5% and 50% of the mass of the sun. This low mass, relative to the sun, means such stars burn at a lower temperature, reaching only 6,380 degrees Fahrenheit (3,500 degrees Celsius) compared to the 9,900 degrees Fahrenheit (5,500 degrees Celsius) temperature of our star. For instance, Gliese 12 has a surface temperature around 60% that of the sun.

This lower temperature means that dimly shining red dwarfs can exist as main sequence stars for much longer than moderately massive stars like the sun can. Though the sun is expected to live for around 10 billion years, red dwarfs are predicted to have lifetimes tens, or even hundreds, of times this period. Sometimes, that figure can extend to trillions of years. What this means is life would have more time to develop on planets orbiting red dwarfs than it would on planets around larger main-sequence stars.

But, it isn't all good news for the prospects of life on red-dwarf-orbiting exoplanets. 

Though they are cooler than the sun in their stellar adulthood, red dwarfs are believed to be much wilder than our star. This class of star is believed to be highly magnetically active, blasting out frequent and powerful flares of high-energy light in the form of  X-rays . These X-rays can violently strip the atmosphere of a planet close to a red dwarf.

Additionally, recent research has suggested that even red dwarfs that remain placid for many years can suddenly erupt with superflares 100 to 1,000 times more powerful than the sun's  solar flares . These eruptions are more common in the youth of this stellar class and are also capable of stripping atmospheres and boiling away liquid water, even in habitable zones.

At the moment, though, both teams involved in the discovery of Gliese 12 b think the red dwarf in orbit is relatively calm, which could be good news for the exoplanet's chance of possessing an atmosphere.

Red dwarf exoplanets are good TESS targets

The fact that red dwarfs are cooler than stars like the sun and thus their habitable zones are closer to the stars actually makes detecting exoplanets around them a little easier for TESS and its transit method of planet-hunting.

"We have biases towards detecting planets that are close to their host stars essentially, just because they transit more often. When we find planets orbiting red dwarfs because they're smaller stars, the dimming of the transit is bigger," Palethorpe said. "Because red dwarfs are slightly cooler, the habitable zone lies closer to the star than it would for our kind of sun, which means we're more likely to detect planets in the habitable zone with TESS."

The team will have to turn to other instruments than TESS to investigate this planet further. They will also switch to a different method of exoplanet detection to better define the characteristics of Gliese 12 b. One is called the "radial velocity method," which utilizes the tiny wobbles planets cause in the motion of their stars as they gravitationally tug on those stars. 

"I think next really is to nail down the mass of the planet. We are already actively doing that as part of the High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher for the Northern hemisphere (Harps North) team, which is a radial velocity telescope," Palethorpe said. "Then we've also got another proposal accepted with the European Organization for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere (ESPRESSO), which is another radial velocity telescope. And so, hopefully, from kind of the radial velocity observations, we will do this."

Palethorpe and Van Eylen also hope to be granted time with the  James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)  to further investigate the planet's atmosphere. This is possible because as Gliese 12 b transits the face of its star, light passing through its atmosphere will carry the characteristic fingerprints of elements in the atmosphere. 

This process is called "transmission spectroscopy," and Gliese 12 b is only one of a handful of temperate Earth-like worlds that are close enough to be examined in this way.

The JWST is currently conducting a similar investigation for the seven Earth-like planets of the  TRAPPIST-1 system , located around 40 light-years away. These planets resemble Gliese 12 b in that not only are many of them in the habitable zone of their star, but that star is also a small and cool red dwarf.

"I think with the JWST, we will get at least some clues about the atmosphere of this planet, which would be, I think, the most, the next most exciting thing to do, now that it's been discovered," Van Eylen said.

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When it comes to the possibility of Gliese 12 b hosting life, the two scientists are extremely cautious. After all, it is early days for both our understanding of this world and methods that would be capable of detecting signs of life in an exoplanet atmosphere, even one so relatively close as Gliese 12 b.

"I think Gliese 12 b will teach us a lot about life, but we can't say anything for certain. I think it's very exciting, and we should definitely look forward to more research coming out about Gliese 12 b," Palethorpe concluded. "It's not a bad place to start on a hunt for life."

The two teams' research was published on Thursday (May 23) in The Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society and The Astrophysical Journal Letters. 

Originally published on  Space.com .

Robert Lea is a science journalist in the U.K. who specializes in science, space, physics, astronomy, astrophysics, cosmology, quantum mechanics and technology. Rob's articles have been published in Physics World, New Scientist, Astronomy Magazine, All About Space and ZME Science. He also writes about science communication for Elsevier and the European Journal of Physics. Rob holds a bachelor of science degree in physics and astronomy from the U.K.’s Open University

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'Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes' spoilers! Here's what the ending really means

Spoiler alert! We're discussing important plot points and the ending of “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes”  ( in theaters now ), so swing to another treetop if you haven’t seen it yet.

The original "Planet of the Apes" movie rocked audiences in 1968 with its combination of astounding makeup and shocking ending. Astronaut George Taylor (Charlton Heston), free of his ape tormentors and on a horseback trek along a beach, comes across the vestiges of the Statue of Liberty.

Thinking he had landed on a distant planet, Taylor suddenly is confronted with the grim reality that he's actually journeyed to a future Earth decimated by warmongering humans. "You maniacs!" he screams. "You blew it up!"

After eight follow-up films − including a recent reboot trilogy that wrapped in 2017 − comes "Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes," with final scenes that seem poised to launch a new series.

Set generations after the death of Caesar, the simian leader in the rebooted trilogy, "Kingdom" features a brave but naive ape, Noa (Owen Teague), who befriends an intrepid human, Mae (Freya Allan). Their intertwined journeys culminate in an intriguing ending about which the actors and director Wes Ball offer cryptic comments.

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What happens in the ending of 'Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes'?

Noa lives in the blissful world of the Eagle Clan of chimps, who have made their home in overgrown utility pole towers. But that bliss comes to an end when his camp is overrun by aggressive apes from a nearby valley who like to hunt humans − who are now feral, nonverbal beasts − for sport.

In one such invasion, the apes capture both Noa and Mae, who we later learn has retained the ability to speak. The two of them are brought to a chimpanzee labor camp, where they learn to trust each other. Mae reveals that a cave the evil apes are trying to break into contains important technology that can help her reconnect with other sentient humans.

The duo succeeds in their mission, allowing Noa to rebuild his clan and Mae to deliver a critical computer cartridge to a group of humans who live in a bunker filled with satellite technology. In the final scene of the movie, Mae is with these scientists, all clearly survivors of the human-dominated Earth, who reboot radio telescopes and make voice contact with other humans. Noa meanwhile is shown taking his close friend Anaya to an abandoned telescope and she peers through the lens. What does Anaya see in space?

The screen suddenly fades to black.

Is the planet Noa and Anaya are looking at through the telescope Earth?

It's tempting to think that the twist here is that the apes no longer live on Earth and that the humans on this planet are using a radio telescope to connect with people back on our blue marble.

But no, the action takes place on Earth. The giveaways are found not just in the various overgrown buildings and streets seen in the film, but in the specificity of one shot that features the remnants of the parabolic arches that define the center of Los Angeles International Airport.

"Imagine that, if we weren't told (as actors) that we are all actually on Mars," Allan says with a laugh. "But no, my character has maps of towns." Addes Teague: "We're all in LA."

So what planet are the chimps looking at through the telescope at the end of 'Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes'?

Earlier in the movie, Noa comes across a huge abandoned telescope and peers through its small eyepiece and is startled by what he sees. But we don't know what it is. At the end of the movie, he feels compelled to bring his friend to see for herself.

The decision to fade to black instead of revealing what the two saw was an easy one for Ball. "I figured there is nothing I could show you that would be stronger than what the audience's imagination would conjure up," he says. "Sure, it might turn some people off, but some people will like it. I have ideas of what they're looking at."

Mars, maybe? Ball laughs. "Right, they're looking at (SpaceX founder) Elon Musk flying around on his Falcon 9 rocket," he says. "But I'll just say this. Space obviously is a key idea in all of these movies. So, maybe it's them looking to the future?"

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A nearby planet could be earth 2.0 or an ‘evil twin,’ say scientists.

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Artist’s conception of the newly discovered planet Gliese 12 b, which is orbiting a red dwarf star ... [+] located 40 light-years away. This artist's conception assumes that the planet retains a tenuous atmosphere. Future follow-up observations will clarify what kind of atmosphere the planet actually retains.

A planet just 40 light-years from the solar system has been discovered to be tantalizingly similar to Earth and Venus—and it’s gone straight onto the “to-do” list for the James Webb Space Telescope.

Gliese 12 b has an estimated surface temperature of 107 degrees Fahrenheit (42 degrees Celsius)—a hot summer’s day on Earth—and far lower than most of the 5,000 exoplanets found so far in the galaxy.

Published Thursday in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society , this new work by teams in Tokyo and London using data from NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite telescope identifies Gliese 12 b as potentially habitable.

What researchers don’t yet know is whether it has an atmosphere. JWST will have to find out—and that will be critical to whether this exoplanet is Earth-like or more of an “evil twin” like Venus.

Relatively Cool

Gliese 12 b is an exoplanet, the name astronomers give to any planet found orbiting a star other than our sun. It orbits very close to a red dwarf star called Gliese 12, which is in the constellation of Pisces in the night sky.

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Red dwarf stars are smaller and cooler than the sun (and also more common, comprising over 75% of the 100 billion to 400 billion stars in the Milky Way), which is why Gliese 12 b can be relatively cool despite orbiting its star in just 12.8 days.

Red dwarf stars may be standard in the Milky Way, but the environment around them is very different from our solar system. Whether Gliese 12 b is Earth-like, however, is unknown. It’s about the size of Venus—a hot, hellish planet—and slightly smaller than Earth. Red dwarfs tend to saturate any planets around them in X-ray flares that can strip away any atmosphere, but Gliese 12 shows no signs of extreme behavior.

Earth-Size World

“We’ve found the nearest, transiting, temperate, Earth-size world located to date,” said Masayuki Kuzuhara, a project assistant professor at the Astrobiology Center in Tokyo who co-led a research team at the University of Tokyo. “Although we don’t yet know whether it possesses an atmosphere, we’ve been thinking of it as an exo-Venus, with similar size and energy received from its star as our planetary neighbor in the solar system.”

For now, the team is thinking of Gliese 12 b as an “evil twin,” more like Venus than like Earth—but they cannot rule out the possibility that Gliese 12 b is an “Earth twin” with liquid water on its surface.

There are likely hundreds of millions of planets around other stars in our Milky Way galaxy that may be habitable, but only a handful of worlds like it are candidates for an “Earth 2.0,” and very few are closer to the solar system.

Gliese 12 b’s estimated size may be as large as Earth or slightly smaller — comparable to Venus in ... [+] our solar system. This artist’s concept compares Earth with different possible Gliese 12 b interpretations, from one with no atmosphere to one with a thick Venus-like one.

Water World

The closeness of an exoplanet to the solar system is crucial not because we can ever travel to it but because space telescopes like JWST can get a lot more data from it—primarily about whether it has an atmosphere.

The search for exoplanets is the search for liquid water. Scientists think that that’s critical to life, so they search for that in the cosmos. If Gliese 12 b has Earth-like temperatures, it could have liquid water on its surface.

However, atmospheres trap heat and can change the actual surface temperature substantially, according to the researchers.

Gliese 12 b gets 1.6 times more sunshine than Earth and about 85% of what Venus gets. The estimated surface temperature on Gliese 12 b may seem Earth-like, but it’s an average. For comparison, Earth has an average surface temperature of 59 degrees F/15 degrees C.

“We are quoting the planet’s ‘equilibrium temperature,’ which is the temperature the planet would be if it had no atmosphere,” said Shishir Dholakia, a doctoral student at the Centre for Astrophysics at the University of Southern Queensland in Australia who co-led the research team. “Much of the scientific value of this planet is to understand what kind of atmosphere it could have.”

Earth Vs. Venus

That data will allow researchers to designate Gliese 12 b as either Earth-like or Venus-like. That’s crucial because Venus is a hellish, lifeless planet.

“It is thought that Earth’s and Venus’s first atmospheres were stripped away and then replenished by volcanic outgassing and bombardments from residual material in the solar system,” said Larissa Palethorpe, a doctoral student at the University of Edinburgh and University College London and the team’s other co-leader. “The Earth is habitable, but Venus is not due to its complete water loss. Because Gliese 12 b is between Earth and Venus in temperature, its atmosphere could teach us a lot about the habitability pathways planets take as they develop.”

Gliese 12 b isn’t the closest exoplanet to Earth that may harbor life. That distinction goes to Proxima Centauri b, an exoplanet that orbits the nearest star to the sun—Proxima Centauri.

However, Proxima Centauri b is in the “wrong place” for astronomers to study. While Gliese 12 b moves across the face of its star from our pon to view, Proxima Centauri b does not. That’s crucial because only when an exoplanet is backlit by its star can a space telescope study what happens to that light as it comes through an exoplanet’s atmosphere. Since different gas molecules absorb different colors, a transit provides a set of chemical fingerprints that can be detected by telescopes like JWST.

Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.

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I.C.C. Prosecutor Requests Warrants for Israeli and Hamas Leaders

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This week, Karim Khan, the top prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, requested arrest warrants for Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the country’s defense minister, Yoav Gallant.

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