PIX4632636: Comets have the origin of life on Earth - Comets bring life on Earth - An artist's view of the Earth bombed by comets 4 billion years ago. Comets may have brought the molecules necessary for the appearance of life on Earth. The Moon at that time was much closer to Earth than today. Impacting comets may have brought life to the early Earth. 4 billion years ago, Moon was closer than today / Bridgeman Images
PIX4632814: Ichthyostega - View of an Ichthyostega 365 million years ago at the upper Devonian. Half-fish, half-terrestrial animal, the Ichthyostega was about 1 metre long. On the left, one of the first species of fern, Rhacophyton ceratangium. In the foreground, prehistoric arthropods (diplopods and cockroaches). A close - up of a three foot long Late Devonian Ichthyostega 365 million years ago in what is today the Canadian Arctic. Flanking the Ichthyostega are Rhacophyton ceratangium, ancient shrubs that are thought to be one of the earliest ferns. The reddish fruit - like nodules attached to the fronds on the right are sporangia, enclosures in which spores are formed. The large tree - like trunk on the far left is the base of a young Archaeopteris. In the foreground are prehistoric arthropods - - a millipede on the left and on the right cockroaches on trunk of a decaying Lycopsid. Arthropods had been walking the Earth for 40 million years before vertebrates like Ichthyostega began venturing ashore. Ichthyostega was one of the earliest tetrapods, a descendent of lobe - finned fishes and ancestor of amphibians. Ichthyostega had lungs and seven - toed limbs that allowed it to move about the shallow waters and shores of swamps and floodplains. It was among the first terrestrial vertebrates / Bridgeman Images
TEC4728248: The desert of Retz to Chambourcy (Parc et jardin de Chambourcy) Desert de Retz, les Yvelines, Ile de France (Ile-de-France), France. The Desert de Retz, created between 1774 and 1789 by Monsieur de Monville, with pavilions of manure or factories of rare species to achieve the absolute of grace of that period. / Bridgeman Images
PIX4673232: Earth from space: Baja California, Mexico - Baja California seen from space - Cloudy front on the Pacific Ocean and Baja California. Image obtained from shuttle Atlantis in May 2009. Clouds above Pacific ocean and Baja California seen from the space shuttle Atlantis in May 2009 / Bridgeman Images
PIX4673273: Earth seen from space: California and Mexico - Dust storm in Baja California seen from space - Dust Tempete on Baja California. Image obtained by Aqua satellite on 27 November 2011. Dust clouds blowing out of Mexico across an otherwise cloud - free view of Baja California. Late November 2011 offered mostly cloud - free skies and a compelling view of the entire length of Baja California and the Pacific coast of Mexico. In the midst of the clarity, strong northeasterly winds stirred up dust storms on the mainland and the peninsula. The natural - color images required to make this oblique view were acquired on November 27, 2011, by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Aqua satellite / Bridgeman Images
PIX4673330: Las Vegas night view - 11/2010 - Las Vegas, Nevada Metropolitan Area at Night - 11/2010 - Las Vegas metropolis night view from the International Space Station (ISS) on November 30, 2010. This image features the Las Vegas, Nevada metropolitan area, located near the southern tip of the state within the Mohave Desert of the southwestern USA. While the city of Las Vegas proper is famous for its casinos and resort hotels, the metropolitan area includes several other incorporated cities and unincorporated (not part of a state - recognized municipality) areas. Astronauts on board the International Space Station observe and photograph numerous metropolitan areas when they are illuminated by sunlight, but the extent and pattern of these areas is perhaps best revealed by the city lights at night. The surrounding dark desert presents a stark contrast to the brightly lit, regular street grid of the developed metropolitan area. The Vegas Strip (image center) is reputed to be the brightest spot on Earth due to the concentration of lights associated with its hotels and casinos. The tarmac of McCarran International Airport to the south is a dark feature by comparison. The airstrips of Nellis Air Force Base on the northeastern fringe of the metropolitan area are likewise dark compared to the well - lit adjacent streets and neighborhoods. The dark mass of Frenchman Mountain borders the metropolitan area to the east. Acquisition of focused night time images such as this one require astronauts to track the target with the handheld camera while the ISS is moving at a speed of more than 7 kilometers per second (15,659 miles per hour) relative to the Earth's surface. This was achieved during ISS Expedition 6 using a homemade tracking device, but subsequent crews have needed to develop manual tracking skills. These skills, together with advances in digital camera technology, have enabled recent ISS crews to acquire striking night time images of the Earth / Bridgeman Images
PIX4674140: Hurricane Ike seen from space - Hurricane Ike seen from space - Hurricane Ike seen over Cuba on 9 September 2008 from the International Space Station (ISS). 9 Sep. 2008 - Hurricane Ike covers more than half of Cuba in this image, photographed by the crew of ISS - 17 aboard the International Space Station from a vantage point of 220 statute miles above Earth. The center of Ike was near 22.4 degrees north latitude and 82.4 degrees west longitude and moving 290 degrees at 11.7 miles per hour. Sustained winds were at 80.6 miles per hour, with gusts to 97.9 miles per hour and were forced to strengthen as the eye moved back over the warm water in the gulf of Mexico City / Bridgeman Images
PIX4674685: Earth from the space shuttle Discovery 04/1990 - Earth from the space shuttle Discovery 04/1990 - Earth and the sun seen by the shuttle Discovery in April 1990. Earth observation taken aboard Discovery, during late afternoon shows the Andes Mountains and features sun glare, heavy cloud illumination, and a sunglint against the Pacific Ocean / Bridgeman Images
ITR4729432: Chateau de Chantilly, Oise, Picardie, France. Photography 1999. Drawing at the end of the 18th century by Andre Le Notre for Louis II of Bourbon, Prince of Conde (Bourbon-Conde) (Grand Conde) (1621-1686), it is the only garden created by the gardener of Versailles whose axis does not pass through the castle, but through a statue, that of the Connetable Anne de Montmorency. / Bridgeman Images
ITR4729865: The desert of Retz to Chambourcy (Parc et jardin de Chambourcy) Desert de Retz, les Yvelines, Ile de France (Ile-de-France), France. The Desert de Retz, created between 1774 and 1789 by Monsieur de Monville, with pavilions of manure or factories of rare species to achieve the absolute of grace of that period. / Bridgeman Images
PIX4675007: Clouds seen from space - Clouds seen from space - Clouds formation on Cape Rhir in Morocco. Image obtained from Apollo 9 module on March 12, 1969. Morocco, Ifni, cloud eddy over Ras Rhir, as photographed from the Apollo 9 spacecraft during its 134th revolution of Earth. 12 March 1969 / Bridgeman Images
PIX4675459: Great Barrier Reef in Australia from satellite - The Great Barrier Reef in Australia from satellite - The world's largest coral reef that extends off Queensland, Australia, seen by Envisat satellite on 18 May 2008. This Envisat satellite image features one of the natural wonders of the world - the Great Barrier Reef in the Coral Sea off the east coast of Queensland, Australia. Australian researchers have discovered that Envisat's Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) sensor can detect coral bleaching down to 10 m deep. This means Envisat could potentially map coral bleaching on a global scale. MERIS acquired this image on 18 May 2008, working in Full Resolution mode to yield a spatial resolution of 300 m / Bridgeman Images