Opening December 3, a new temporary exhibit at Tellus provides an out of this world view of our planet.

Earth from Space, an exhibit created by the Smithsonian Institution, showcases eighteen amazing high-resolution satellite images of Earth, its weather, and its natural and manmade features.

From the beginning of the space age, scientists have been sending remote sensing satellites in orbit around our planet.

Satellites use visible and infrared observations for military surveillance, to map changes in vegetation and urbanization, to monitor natural disasters, and to track major weather events.

In the process of documenting these changes, many dramatic and beautiful images have resulted from these remote sensing programs.

Earth from Space features a sampling of these images, collected by satellites over the last twenty-plus years.