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Dec 26, 2013 8:00 AM

The Most Amazing Images NASA Took of Earth From Space This Year

NASA's fleet of satellites took a slew of beautiful images of Earth this year. From erupting volcanoes and wildfire scars to idyllic islands and surreal cloud formations, here are our favorites.

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Pavlof volcano

NASA's fleet of satellites and its astronauts aboard the International Space Station took a slew of incredibly beautiful images of Earth this year. From erupting volcanoes and wildfire scars to idyllic islands and surreal cloud formations, here are our favorites. Above, Pavlof volcano in the Aleutian arc erupts in this image captured by astronauts on the International Space Station on May 18, 2013. Below, the eruption plume extends over the Pacific ocean. (NASA). [High resolution versions: above, below]

Betsy Mason is a freelance science journalist based in the San Francisco Bay Area and co-founder of the Map Lab blog. She is the former science editor for WIRED.com.

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