NASA
This picture showing the Pyramids at Giza was taken from the International Space Station on July 25.
The ancient Maya pyramids of Mexico and Central America got some well-deserved time in the spotlight today during the non-apocalypse, but let's not forget those other, older pyramids in Egypt. This picture shows the layout of the Pyramids at Giza, as seen from the International Space Station this summer.
From left to right, you can see the pyramids of the Pharaohs Menkaure, Khafre and Khufu, with the Sphinx sitting southeast of Khufu's Great Pyramid. (North is pointing toward the upper right corner of the frame.) Several smaller, unfinished pyramids lie to the south of Menkaure's monument, and fields of rectangular, flat-roofed tombs sprawl to the east and west of Khufu's pyramid. There's a golf course right next to the pyramids, and the streets and buildings of El Giza spread out to the picture's right edge.
The Pyramids at Giza date back 4,500 years, which makes them at least a millennium older than the oldest Maya pyramids.
This view of the pyramids from space serves as today's offering from the Cosmic Log Space Advent Calendar, which serves up a fresh picture of Earth as seen from space every day until Christmas. Click on the links below to sample the calendar's other visual goodies:
- 2012 Cosmic Log Space Advent Calendar
- Day 1: A fantastic Chinese fan
- Day 2: Satellite shows a Grander Canyon
- Day 3: Typhoon stirs awe — and alarm
- Day 4: Glittering nighttime view of Riyadh
- Day 5: Night lights shine on 'Black Marble'
- Day 6: Holy sites seen at night
- Day 7: Blue Marble still leaves its mark
- Day 8: Satellites look into a volcano's hell
- Day 9: Jack Frost nipping at Alaska's nose
- Day 10: Cosmonaut looks down on peaks
- Day 11: Earth looms above moonwalker
- Day 12: Skytree casts shadow on Tokyo
- Day 13: Aurora sets stage for meteor show
- Day 14: Apollo's last look at Earthrise
- Day 15: A sobering moment from space
- Day 16: Middle Earth spotted from orbit
- Day 17: Mount Etna erupts ... in 3-D!
- Day 18: Gaze into the Great Blue Hole
- Day 19: Mount Fuji goes fuzzy
- Day 20: Look down on a ruined Maya city
- 2011 Cosmic Log Space Advent Calendar
- 2010 Cosmic Log Space Advent Calendar
- The Atlantic: Hubble Advent Calendar
- Zooniverse Advent Calendar
Alan Boyle is NBCNews.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter and adding the Cosmic Log page to your Google+ presence. To keep up with Cosmic Log as well as NBCNews.com's other science and space news coverage, sign up for the Tech & Science newsletter, delivered via email. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about dwarf planets and the search for new worlds.