'A Beautiful Planet' by IMAX, in Photos
Home sweet home
The IMAX film "A Beautiful Planet" offers a unique and breathtaking view of Earth from space, encouraging greater awareness of our planet's beauty and fragility. In this still from the movie, all seems quiet and peaceful in Los Angeles.
Continental beauty
The Strait of Gibraltar and Spain (to the left), and the Mediterranean Sea and North Africa (to the right) from an astronaut's perspective, in a scene from the IMAX film, "A Beautiful Planet."
Understated power
Glimpsed from the International Space Station (ISS), the 25-mile-wide eye of Typhoon Maysak conceals immense power.
A new day
In the IMAX film "A Beautiful Planet," sunrise at the edge of the world — from an astronaut's view — is awe-inspiring.
Spectacular geography
Commander Barry "Butch" Wilmore, one of the astronaut camera operators for "A Beautiful Planet," described the vastness of the Himalayas as viewed from the International Space Station, saying, "It just keeps coming across the horizon. It's just amazing."
Moonlit madness
The vivid colors of the reefs around the Bahamas glow in the moonlight, with Florida visible to the south.
Sign up for the Live Science daily newsletter now
Get the world’s most fascinating discoveries delivered straight to your inbox.
Raising awareness
Spain and the Mediterranean Sea luminesce on a dark night with little moonlight. Jennifer Lawrence narrated the film, which offers Earthbound humans a unique perspective of our home planet.
Everything's bigger
Several Texas cities — Dallas, Houston and San Antonio — shimmer in the night next to a gleaming Gulf of Mexico, in a scene from the IMAX film "A Beautiful Planet."
Colorful protector
The Sun constantly ejects radiation that streams toward Earth, but our planet protects us with a magnetic shield. The dramatic light show known as the aurora borealis reveals that shield in action.
Promise of rain
Thunderstorms develop over central Africa, bringing a promise of rain to the continent. As the astronauts were occupied with NASA duties for much of each day, the majority of the footage was shot during nights and weekends.
Find the perfect tools
New Zealand glimmers in the Pacific Ocean. This is the first time that astronauts were able to capture footage of the land mass without cloud cover.