These stunning photographs may look like alien planets, but they are actually satellite images of planet Earth. Commercial satellite company DigitalGlobe recently released the images as a way of highlighting the incredible detail of their imagery – the highest-resolution commercial satellite imagery in the world. Some of the images – taken above Afghanistan, Algeria, Peru, Russia and the United States – look more like abstract works by Mondrian than segments of the globe. DigitalGlobe, based in Westminster, Colo., launched its first satellite in 1999 and currently has four in operation. Here: Trementina, New Mexico. (Photo by DigitalGlobe/Caters News)

Peruvian surfer Carlos “Huevito” Areola rides a reed board, or “caballito” (little horse), into a wave at Sydney's Bondi Beach, February 24, 2016. Areola is part of a group of Peruvian surfers touring Australia’s east coast to promote the use of the “caballito”. The “caballito” is thought to have been invented around 3,000 BC in northern Peru. (Photo by Jason Reed/Reuters)

Women take part in the desert trek “Rose Trip Maroc”, on November 1, 2019 in the erg Chebbi near Merzouga. The Rose Trip Maroc is a female-oriented trek where teams of three must travel through the southern Moroccan Sahara desert with a compass, a map and a topographical reporter. (Photo by Jean-Philippe Ksiazek/AFP Photo)

A man carries a bag on his back in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, January 26, 2016. According to traffic police, over 2.9 billion trips will be made around China during the 40-day Spring Festival travel rush, which started on January 24. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

“John Thomson (14 June 1837 – 29 September 1921) was a pioneering Scottish photographer, geographer and traveller. He was one of the first photographers to travel to the Far East, documenting the people, landscapes and artifacts of eastern cultures. Upon returning home, his work among the street people of London cemented his reputation, and is regarded as a classic instance of social documentary which laid the foundations for photojournalism. He went on to become a portrait photographer of High Society in Mayfair, gaining the Royal Warrant in 1881”. – Wikipedia. Photo: Ex Omnibus Driver. (Photo by John Thomson/LSE Digital Library)

Passengers climb to board an overcrowded train at a railway station in Dhaka August 8, 2013. Millions of residents in Dhaka are travelling home from the capital city to celebrate the Muslim Eid al-Fitr holiday, which marks the end of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan. (Photo by Andrew Biraj/Reuters)

A child travels in a pickup truck next to a coffin in Les Cayes, Haiti, Monday, August 16, 2021. Haitians are searching for survivors and the dead in collapsed buildings following the powerful earthquake over the weekend as hospitals overflow with patients, and Tropical Depression Grace is predicted to reach Haiti Monday night. (Photo by Joseph Odelyn/AP Photo)

Harry Potter fan Emil Valkov, 7, from Bulgaria, who travelled to Britain with his family to attend the event for his older sister's birthday, poses for a photo at “Platform 9 3/4” during Back to Hogwarts Day at Kings Cross Station in London, Britain on September 1, 2023. (Photo by Hollie Adams/Reuters)