Earth in 3D: Today’s Clouds, Earthquakes and Aurora
Earth in Space Time can show the planet close to how it looks now. Living Earth lays recent NASA satellite imagery over the globe, marks the last day’s earthquakes and draws the current aurora forecast. Every layer keeps its source and date, and missing data stays missing.
Open Living Earth →Free in your browser · No account required · 3D view uses WebGL
Try it in the app
- Open Living Earth. The globe switches to the most recent satellite imagery, with a panel listing each layer and its date.
- Turn layers on or off: satellite heat detections start off, and the aurora forecast can be shown on the night side.
- Select an earthquake symbol to read its time, magnitude, depth and USGS source.
On a phone, drag to change the view and pinch to zoom. If the 3D view cannot load on your device, the guide and its source links remain available here.
Imagery from the last day or two
NASA’s VIIRS instruments photograph the whole planet in daily orbital strips. Space Time places today’s strips over yesterday’s completed view, so newer passes replace older pixels. Areas with no recent pass show the reference map underneath rather than an invented cloud.
Earthquakes and heat detections
Earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 and above from the last 24 hours come from the USGS catalog. Symbol size does not show the area affected. Satellite heat detections often mark fires but can also be volcanoes or industrial heat, so the app does not label them all as wildfires.
An aurora forecast, not a photograph
The auroral oval comes from NOAA’s OVATION model, a short-range forecast of where aurora is likely. It is drawn on the night side around the geomagnetic poles. Clouds and local light still decide whether you can see it.
Only for exploring and learning
Living Earth is not a warning service. Use official sources for weather, earthquakes and emergencies. If you move the clock far from the present, the live layers pause instead of placing today’s clouds on another date.
Sources and evidence
- NASA Worldview and GIBS imagery
- USGS earthquake catalog
- NOAA SWPC aurora forecast
- Earth data and appearance evidence
Guide by Point Dynamics. Reviewed 2026-10-20. Saved scene images illustrate the experience; they are not current observations.