As we celebrate Earth Day once again on 22 April it's time to acknowledge the beauty of our planet and share the common concern for preserving its depleting environment.

The first Earth Day was celebrated in 1970. The idea for Earth Day was proposed by former Wisconsin senator Gaylord Nelson after he saw the damage done by a 1969 oil spill in Santa Barbara, California. This inspired him to promote ecology, to encourage value of life on Earth, and highlight the concerns about different kinds of pollution.

To celebrate the day and our planet IBTimes UK brings you some of the best photos captured by Nasa's satellites and International Space Station that provide a stunning look at the Earth from space.

Earth view from the Apollo 11 spacecraft
This view from the Apollo 11 spacecraft was captured in July 1969 and shows the Earth rising above the moon's horizon. The lunar terrain pictured is in the area of Smyth's Sea on the nearside Nasa
earth from space
Expedition 42 Commander Barry Wilmore took this photograph of the Great Lakes and central US from on board the International Space Station Barry Wilmore/Nasa
Earth photographed from the International Space Station
Earth photographed from the International Space Station Don Pettit, Nasa
Earth and Moon
The Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) captured this unique view of the Moon as it passed between the spacecraft and Earth in July 2015. The fully illuminated "dark side" of the Moon is shown here which is not visible from Earth Nasa
Earth full hemisphere view at night
The image shows a full hemispheric view of the American continents at night NASA Earth Observatory/Joshua Stevens
Earth from Space
A blue and white part of Earth photographed by an Expedition 40 crew member on the International Space Station on June 19, 2014 Nasa/ISS
Earth sunrise from Space
As the Space Shuttle Columbia orbited Earth in an easterly direction over the Indian Ocean, moonrise followed quickly by sunrise. This photograph was taken from an altitude of 285 kms over Lake Tanganyika in central Africa on 1 November 1992 Nasa
earth from space
The picture shows the North American continent in all its glory Nasa
Galileo view of Moon orbiting the Earth
Eight days after its encounter with the Earth, the Galileo spacecraft captured this remarkable view of the Moon in orbit about the Earth on 16 December 1992 from a distance of about 6.2 million km away Nasa
Tim Peake
British Astronaut Tim Peake clicked this magnificient picture of the ISS flyover of the mediterranean ESA/NASA
More from IBTimes UK
NASA