See NASA's Best Satellite Photo Of Earth This Year

Yesterday, NASA's Earth Observatory revealed the winner of it's public-chosen competition for the best satellite image of Earth. Selected from 32 other shots, "Trailing The Canaries" (above), is a can't-believe-its-real still of the Canary Islands off the northwest coast of Africa, captured by NASA's Terra satellite this past June.

The photo depicts seven island bodies with wakes behind them, inspiring the idea that these are jet ski-like land masses with some serious momentum. According to the Earth Observatory, The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Terra satellite looked down on the Canary on June 15th at the perfect moment: "Sunlight was being reflected off of the ocean surface directly back at the satellite imager, revealing details about the water surface or circulation that are otherwise invisible."

Interestingly, last year's winning photo was a shot of submarine volcano also off the Canary Islands. See some of the other top-voted satellite images below, and all 32 entrees here. Bird's eye, what? Satellite views are clearly where the beauty's at.

For more epic shots of Earth from high above see:

5 Views From Above That Will Make You Feel Like You're Flying

NASA Satellite Strips Together New Image Of America

'Satellite Landscapes' Offer A God's-Eye View Of Our Own Unmaking

Images via

H/T Daily Mail

@zachsokol