COSMOS

Measured Universe Explorer

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Selected object

Earth

Observational composite
Observational surface mosaic

A cloud-free global mosaic assembled from satellite observations. It is a scientific composite, not a single photograph.

Class
Terrestrial planet
Mean radius
6,371 km
Representation
Observation-derived composite and tiled surface
Position date
2026-08-29 TDB
Surface detail
Global composite
Finest delivered imagery
611 m/px
Implementation
Tiled observational surface
Orientation
GMST / mean obliquity; UT1 ≈ UTC
Lighting
Visibility-assisted
Position reference
Earth-centred origin
Data sourceNASA Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS)Position source · 2026-08-29 TDBNASA/JPL HorizonsFull data recordEarth on COSMOS
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COSMOS — an interactive scientific universe explorer

COSMOS is a continuous 3D map you can fly through: from a satellite surface map of Earth through the Milky Way, Andromeda and surveyed cosmic structure. Every layer is a shipped dataset with a named provider, a release, a licence and a disclosed limitation. Nothing here is decorative filler.

It contains observational surface maps of Earth and the Moon, the positions of the Sun, the planets and Pluto from a JPL Horizons state archive covering 2020-01-01 00:00 TDB through 2040-01-01 00:00 TDB, 371,766 measured Gaia DR3 stars within 100 parsecs, and a Milky Way density reconstruction built from 230,000 weighted tracers.

The two are not the same kind of thing, and COSMOS keeps them apart. Measurements — imagery, positions, catalogue astrometry — are labelled as measurements. Derived and modelled layers, including the Galactic reconstruction and the reference spheres used where a provider has published no imagery, are labelled as models. Where a source publishes no value, the page says so instead of filling the gap.