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January 20, 2009 3:16 PM PST

Photos: Obama inauguration viewed from space

by Stephen Shankland
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GeoEye-1 took this satellite photo of Barack Obama's inauguration ceremony.

GeoEye-1 took this satellite photo of Barack Obama's inauguration ceremony. At left, crowd. At right, Capitol Building.

(Credit: GeoEye)

GeoEye-1, the satellite that will supply Google with high-resolution imagery of the Earth, took a high-resolution photograph of the inauguration of President Barack Obama.

The satellite is expected to start producing data for Google in coming weeks, but in the meantime, this shot shows a bit more tantalizing detail about what will show in Google Earth and Google Maps. It was taken from 423 miles up as the 4,300-pound satellite traveled 17,000 miles per hour.

GeoEye launched GeoEye-1 in September, and Google has exclusive rights to imagery for online use.

For a larger view, click on the bottom image, which we're publishing at one quarter the original resolution. The two smaller images are full-size crops.

Update 7:52 a.m. PST January 21: Google Earth users can view the photo through the software, according to Google's Lat Long blog. And GeoEye has added the image to CNN's Photosynth view of the inauguration.

GeoEye-1 took this satellite photo of Barack Obama's inauguration ceremony. Note the shape of the crowd gathered around the large-screen TV in upper right.

GeoEye-1 took this satellite photo of Barack Obama's inauguration ceremony. Note the shape of the crowd gathered around the large-screen TV in upper right.

(Credit: GeoEye)
GeoEye-1 took this satellite photo of the mall during Barack Obama's inauguration ceremony.

GeoEye-1 took this satellite photo of the Mall during Barack Obama's inauguration ceremony. Click to see a larger image.

(Credit: GeoEye)

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About Underexposed

This blog sheds light on digital photography subjects such as cameras, photo editing, and Web sites. Shankland joined CNET News in 1998 after a five-year stint as a science writer. He's a lab rat who grew up in Los Alamos, N.M., and graduated from Harvard.

Contact Stephen at Stephen.Shankland@cnet.com

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