Earth Day: See our wondrous world from the best seats around

Wednesday, April 22, 2015, 9:50 AM - Earth Day is a time to reflect on humanity's impact on our world, but it is also a day to observe the Earth's beauty, and where better to do that than the best seats 'in the house'?

The Earth holds incredible beauty even from our vantage point here on the ground.

However, when viewed from above, from geosynchronous orbit or the International Space Station, that beauty can be magnified a thousandfold.

Here are two satellite views, the first taken from the ESA's Rosetta spacecraft as it zipped past Earth on its way to Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, and the second taken by the European Union weather satellite EUMETSAT.

The crew members on the International Space Station are the humans with perhaps the most spectacular view of our world, as they orbit around around 300 kilometres above the surface, and complete a circuit of the planet every 90 minutes or so. That's 16 sunsets and 16 sunrises for every one of our days, and an incredible panorama of Earth's beauty spread out beneath them at all times.

Here's a sampling of what they see on a daily basis.

DON'T FORGET! How to watch an Earth Day Lyrid meteor shower