It’s time for the usual end of the year lists, and Slate posted on on the “best” satellite images snapped by commercial outfit DigitalGlobe. Usually, when sites publish satellite photos, they’re cherry picked from terabytes of data. They look amazing because they’re sharp shots of charismatic places. This list is no different, except for one.
The second shot, the one of the Maidan in Kiev, Ukraine, shows what most satellite images look like. Far from crisp and stunning, it’s grainy, muddy, and riddled with obfuscating shadows. But it’s still amazing.