Public chooses favourite NASA Earth Observatory image for Earth day

An aerial photo of ocean sands in the Bahamas has been voted the NASA Earth Observatory's all-time best image.

To celebrate their 20th anniversary and the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, the Earth Observatory asked readers to pick their all-time favourite image.

The winning photo taken from the Landsat7 satellite shows sands and seaweed in the Bahamas.

Entitled "Ocean Sand, Bahamas", the image's multicoloured patterns are caused by the shifting tides and currents of the ocean - much like the dunes of the Sahara Desert.

It was taken in 2001, and was the runner-up in the Earth Observatory's 10th anniversary photo competition.

This year's tournament consisted of five rounds with a total of 56,000 votes.

"Ocean Sand, Bahamas" won by a majority of 66.2 per cent of votes in the final round, defeating "Where the Dunes End".

The Earth Observatory takes images from space. Each day it posts an image online.