Earth Shaped Like a Potato — NASA Reveals the Planet's 'True' Form

NASA has published a geoid model showing Earth as a lumpy 'potato'. The gravitational peak is near Iceland (85 m), and the deepest trough is south of India (106 m). The model is important for GPS and topography.

NASA has published a visualization of the geoid — a model of Earth's gravitational field — in which the planet looks like a lumpy 'potato'. The model shows what the surface of the world's oceans would look like under the influence of gravity alone, without wind, currents, or tides. The irregularities reflect the uneven distribution of mass in the planet's interior: areas with denser rock create gravitational hills, while less dense areas create troughs. The highest peak is near Iceland (85 meters above the average level), and the deepest trough is south of India (106 meters below). In reality, these variations are imperceptible, so specialists have exaggerated them by a factor of 10,000. The geoid is essential for accurate satellite navigation (GPS), topographic surveying, and modern geographic systems. The article references a post on X by space weather expert Ben Davidson.