Issue 75: Events
May 11, 2023
In this week’s issue:
- People amass, satellites pass (over)
- Drifting icebergs
- Not quite great lake
This is an archived issue. Sign up here to receive the Planet Snapshots newsletter every Thursday morning.
Feature Story: Events
A group of lemurs is called a conspiracy, but a group of humans is called a good time (usually). Which partly made the early 2020s reprieve from group gatherings so difficult. We’re a social species with a propensity for large-scale activities. But while three’s a crowd on the ground, it’s invisible from space. Multiply it by thousands, though, and our congregations become as apparent as our cities. So to celebrate the return of great masses and to herald the impending packed crowds of summer, here’s a collection of events so large they’re visible from orbit.
The largest religious gathering of humans takes place every 4 years across 4 locations in India, with over 100 million attending the ceremony along the banks of Prayagraj’s rivers in 2019. The Hindu pilgrimage, called Kumbh Mela, involves cleansing oneself in the sacred Ganges and is at least over 1300 years old.
The Catholics know a thing or two about masses. Countless devotees can be seen gathered in Vatican City’s Saint Peter’s Square during the Second Sunday of Easter in 2018.
Hollywood may have popularized the red carpet, but Karbala perfected it. Iraq’s holy city hosts one of the world’s largest religious pilgrimages: Arbaeen. Every year, millions of pilgrims visit the Al-Abbas Shrine, the outside of which can be seen covered in what appears to be red carpet before the event.
For many, religious fervor is rivaled only by competitive sports. In 2018, Philadelphia rang the victory bell alongside the Liberty Bell after winning the Super Bowl. Fans took to the sunny streets to celebrate.
If the images included so far haven’t influenced you, then perhaps the influencer-bonanza known as Coachella might. We only had nosebleed tickets though, so we missed all the in-tents acts.
The mecca of human gatherings is likely, well, Mecca. Millions of Muslims make the pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia each year to congregate around the Kaaba in the Great Mosque.
It’s a cars’ world, we’re just driving in it. Parked cars pack the motorway for the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix back in 2018.
Humans are more like ants than we care to admit. And nothing quite highlights this relation as do images of square troop formations from orbit. North Korea’s infamous military parades are often captured via satellite, with uniformed units of soldiers particularly visible.
Maybe you’ve noticed a trend in what brings large groups of people together: religion, music, sports, and politics. But there’s also beer. Though it starts in September, Oktoberfest is a huge event for German culture, beer, and dirndl and lederhosen fans, with millions flocking to the barrel-aged watering hole each year.
Thanks for viewing this group of images of groups of people. If you were hoping for a sappy ending, here it is: if you ever feel powerless to individually shape the world, remember that together we can have an impact big enough to be seen from space.
Bonus: Some other animals besides humans and ants like amassing too. Here’s some waddles of penguins keeping warm in Antarctica.
Remote Sensations: Counting Icebergs
Welcome to Newfoundland. Temperature: cold. Main spring attraction: passing icebergs. We’re not talking the city-size icebergs calving from the ice sheets. But rather the Titanic-ending drifters. For those of us who both love to spot icebergs and to distract ourselves from important obligations, there’s a great site that lets you track these icy behemoths as they coast along the area’s shores.
And while in search of icebergs we found ice-spirals. Here’s an ice floe swirling with the currents off the island’s eastern coast.
What in the World: Lake St. Clair
Lake St. Clair is a bit like a referee in a championship game: situated between two greats but not granted the same esteem and is largely ignored. The lake sits between the Great Lakes Erie and Huron and lines eastern Detroit. Water is fed from seven different channels (seen in the image’s top right) before filtering through the shallow lake and exiting via the Detroit River. It may not be Great, but we think it’s great.
All imagery Ⓒ 2023 Planet Labs PBC
Editor: Ryder Kimball | Images: Ryder Kimball, Robert Simmon, Max Borrmann, Julian Peschel, Candace Chow, and Maarten Lambrechts
