May Puzzler

Each month, Earth Observatory offers up a puzzling satellite image here on Earth Matters. The sixteenth puzzler is above. Your challenge is to use the comments section to tell us what part of the world we are looking at, when the image was acquired, and why the scene is interesting.

How to answer. Your answer can be a few words or several paragraphs. (Try to keep it shorter than 300 words). You might simply tell us what part of the world an image shows. Or you can dig deeper and explain what satellite and instrument produced the image, what spectral bands were used to create it, or what is compelling about some obscure speck in the far corner of an image. If you think something is interesting or noteworthy, tell us about it.

The prize. We can’t offer prize money for being the first to respond or for digging up the most interesting kernels of information. But, we can promise you credit and glory (well, maybe just credit). Roughly one week after a puzzler image appears on this blog, we will post an annotated and captioned version as our Image of the Day. In the credits, we’ll acknowledge the person who was first to correctly ID the image. We’ll also recognize people who offer the most interesting tidbits of information. Please include your preferred name or alias with your comment. If you work for an institution that you want us to recognize, please mention that as well.

Recent winners. If you’ve won the puzzler in the last few months, please sit on your hands for at least a few days to give others a chance to play.

1 Comment so far

My 15 Favorite Commander Hadfield Photos

“Who’d have thought that five months away from the planet would make you feel closer to people,” mused Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield a few days before his return trip back to Earth. Along with two crew members, the commander of International Space Station Expedition 35 landed safely in Kazakhstan on May 13, 2013, via a Russian Soyuz space capsule.

What a tour it has been. After 2,336 orbits, 62 million miles traveled, Hadfield returns as a rock star of sorts. His recording of a cover of David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” quickly went viral this week (6 million+ views and counting). But it’s not just his skill with a guitar that has attracted attention. More than anything else, it has been Hadfield’s mastery of the camera—and Twitter—that has catapulted him to fame.

Hadfield isn’t the first astronaut to tweet from space. Mike Massimino did that in 2009. But the abundance and quality of Hadfield’s tweets has set a new standard. He spent several hours per day taking photographs from the Cupola, and with the help of his son Evan (back on Earth) posted the best of them to his feed.

The photos they shared didn’t seem to be raw. One of the Hadfields must have been tweaking the brightness and contrast of the images to make them pop. When paired with snappy, heartfelt captions, the photos proved irresistible. Hadfield’s online followers skyrocketed from about 20,000 when he went into space to more than 900,000 when he returned.  Many of his images were retweeted thousands of times.

To celebrate the safe return of Expedition 35, I’ve posted fifteen of my favorites below. Thank you, Commander Hadfield, for the remarkable tour.  And welcome home.

To some this may look like a sunset. But it’s a new dawn. pic.twitter.com/iVgyUihqEN

Australia. Jackson Pollock would have been even further inspired by seeing the Outback from orbit. pic.twitter.com/UHtp6lqp

  The Richat Structure. A giant gazing eye upon the Earth. pic.twitter.com/Uqv9JSh17b

When I look at thunderstorms from above, I see faces. What do you see in the clouds? pic.twitter.com/IxSu5XUqGQ

I have no idea what this Brazilian outcrop looks like on the ground, but from orbit, it’s a brain. pic.twitter.com/QPRcdRGkov

Same land, different politics. The US – Mexican border, seen from space. pic.twitter.com/rsEnFX0enN

Spaceships glowing blue in the dawn as we leave Florida headed across the Atlantic. pic.twitter.com/GzEoCg2bb5

Crazed patchwork of farms in Central Asia, a monochromatic 3D hallucination in the snow. pic.twitter.com/PaKYxOn7fg

Morning jet traffic over San Francisco. pic.twitter.com/xgtLVjDD6G

Our Sun is immensely, unfathomably powerful. pic.twitter.com/j10CCpP6ya

Warm brown textures of the Patagonian Andes. pic.twitter.com/GGKgurSQhk

Seven billion hearts, but I can see only one. #ValentineFromSpace pic.twitter.com/01Lvmkig

Dubai, the Palm Island like a trilobite in the night. pic.twitter.com/RxBHEnSzst

Shadow play of cloud and mountain at sunset. pic.twitter.com/PRggJS7ZOe

The Moon ushering in the dawn over the Southeastern United States. pic.twitter.com/i3ETfHP79m

11 Comments and counting

Meet GROVER: NASA’s Rover in Greenland

Not all of NASA’s rovers are headed to Mars. A new Earth science rover nicknamed GROVER started roaming Greenland’s ice sheet this week. The autonomous, solar-operated robot carries a ground-penetrating radar that will be used to examine how snow is accumulating on the Greenland ice pack. Its findings could help scientists understand how the massive ice sheet gains and loses ice.

The GROVER team, led by Goddard Space Flight Center glaciologist Lora Koenig, arrived in Summit Camp, the highest spot in Greenland, on May 6, 2013. After loading and testing the rover’s radar and fixing a minor communications glitch, tests began on the ice on May 8, in spite of winds that blew up to 23 miles (37 kilometers) per hour and temperatures that were as low as -22 degrees Fahrenheit (-30 degrees Celsius).

The tank-like GROVER prototype stands six feet (two meters) tall, including its solar panels. It weighs about 800 pounds and traverses the ice on two repurposed snowmobile tracks. The robot is powered entirely by solar energy, so it can operate in pristine polar environments without adding to air pollution. The panels are mounted in an inverted V, allowing them to collect energy from the sun and sunlight reflected off the ice sheet.

You can track GROVER’s progress by following @NASA_Ice. Read more about GROVER from Climate Central, CBS News, and Discovery News.

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Answers to Earth Week Puzzlers

Thanks to everybody who offered answers to our five puzzlers last week. Congratulations to Christina Stiefel for solving Puzzler #5, Alan Wessman for solving Puzzler #3, and Angie Connelly for solving Puzzler #2! Honorable mention to Marcus Scherer for nearly solving Puzzler #1.

• Puzzler #1 showed undisturbed rainforest canopy in Brazil in part of Pará centered near 0° 58′ 37.1994″ S, 56° 42′ 39.5994″ W.
• Puzzler #2  showed two unnamed glacial lakes in Tibet’s Ngari Prefecture centered near 30° 20′ 31.63″ N, 84° 35′ 26.74″ E.
• Puzzler #3 showed a gorge formed by the Katherine River in Australia’s Northern Territory near the entrance of Nitmiluk National Park; it was centered near 4° 18′ 55.929″ S, 132° 25′ 31.1622″ E.
• Puzzler #4 showed salt pans in the floodplain of the Zambezi River centered near 15° 23′ 28.0638″ S, 23° 21′ 7.5528″ E in Zambia’s Western Province.
• Puzzler #5 showed Thetford Forest in southeastern Britain.

2 Comments and counting

Earth Week Puzzler #5

Each month, Earth Observatory offers up a puzzling satellite image here on Earth Matters. In celebration of Earth Month 2013, we’re upping the ante. We are going to release a new puzzler image every day this week.  The fifth image is above. Your challenge is to use the comments section to tell us what part of the world we are looking at, when the image was acquired, and why the scene is interesting. We’ll post the answer to all five puzzlers at 6 p.m. EST on Friday, April 26. 

How to answer. Your answer can be a few words or several paragraphs. (Try to keep it shorter than 200 words). You might simply tell us what part of the world an image shows. Or you can dig deeper and explain what satellite and instrument produced the image, what spectral bands were used to create it, or what is compelling about some obscure speck in the far corner of an image. If you think something is interesting or noteworthy, tell us about it.

The prize. We can’t offer prizes, but we can promise you credit and glory (well, maybe just credit). Later this week when we post annotated and captioned versions of the puzzler images as our Image of the Day, we will acknowledge the people who were first to correctly ID the images. We’ll also recognize people who offer the most interesting tidbits of information. Please include your preferred name or alias with your comment. If you work for an institution that you want us to recognize, please mention that as well.

Recent winners. If you’ve won the puzzler in the last few months, look at this week as a new challenge — can you get all five image locations?

Good luck!

10 Comments and counting

Earth Week Puzzler #4

Each month, Earth Observatory offers up a puzzling satellite image here on Earth Matters. In celebration of Earth Month 2013, we’re upping the ante. We are going to release a new puzzler image every day this week.  The fourth image is above. Your challenge is to use the comments section to tell us what part of the world we are looking at, when the image was acquired, and why the scene is interesting. We’ll post the answer to all five puzzlers at 6 p.m. EST on Friday, April 26. 

How to answer. Your answer can be a few words or several paragraphs. (Try to keep it shorter than 200 words). You might simply tell us what part of the world an image shows. Or you can dig deeper and explain what satellite and instrument produced the image, what spectral bands were used to create it, or what is compelling about some obscure speck in the far corner of an image. If you think something is interesting or noteworthy, tell us about it.

The prize. We can’t offer prizes, but we can promise you credit and glory (well, maybe just credit). Later this week when we post annotated and captioned versions of the puzzler images as our Image of the Day, we will acknowledge the people who were first to correctly ID the images. We’ll also recognize people who offer the most interesting tidbits of information. Please include your preferred name or alias with your comment. If you work for an institution that you want us to recognize, please mention that as well.

Recent winners. If you’ve won the puzzler in the last few months, look at this week as a new challenge — can you get all five image locations?

Good luck!

18 Comments and counting

Earth Week Puzzler #3

Each month, Earth Observatory offers up a puzzling satellite image here on Earth Matters. In celebration of Earth Month 2013, we’re upping the ante. We are going to release a new puzzler image every day this week.  The third image is above. Your challenge is to use the comments section to tell us what part of the world we are looking at, when the image was acquired, and why the scene is interesting. We’ll post the answer to all five puzzlers at 6 p.m. EST on Friday, April 26. 

How to answer. Your answer can be a few words or several paragraphs. (Try to keep it shorter than 200 words). You might simply tell us what part of the world an image shows. Or you can dig deeper and explain what satellite and instrument produced the image, what spectral bands were used to create it, or what is compelling about some obscure speck in the far corner of an image. If you think something is interesting or noteworthy, tell us about it.

The prize. We can’t offer prizes, but we can promise you credit and glory (well, maybe just credit). Later this week when we post annotated and captioned versions of the puzzler images as our Image of the Day, we will acknowledge the people who were first to correctly ID the images. We’ll also recognize people who offer the most interesting tidbits of information. Please include your preferred name or alias with your comment. If you work for an institution that you want us to recognize, please mention that as well.

Recent winners. If you’ve won the puzzler in the last few months, look at this week as a new challenge — can you get all five image locations?

Good luck!

14 Comments and counting

Earth Week Puzzler #2

Each month, Earth Observatory offers up a puzzling satellite image here on Earth Matters. In celebration of Earth Month 2013, we’re upping the ante. We are going to release a new puzzler image every day this week.  The second image is above. Your challenge is to use the comments section to tell us what part of the world we are looking at, when the image was acquired, and why the scene is interesting. We’ll post the answer to all five puzzlers at 6 p.m. EST on Friday, April 26. 

How to answer. Your answer can be a few words or several paragraphs. (Try to keep it shorter than 200 words). You might simply tell us what part of the world an image shows. Or you can dig deeper and explain what satellite and instrument produced the image, what spectral bands were used to create it, or what is compelling about some obscure speck in the far corner of an image. If you think something is interesting or noteworthy, tell us about it.

The prize. We can’t offer prizes, but we can promise you credit and glory (well, maybe just credit). Later this week when we post annotated and captioned versions of the puzzler images as our Image of the Day, we will acknowledge the people who were first to correctly ID the images. We’ll also recognize people who offer the most interesting tidbits of information. Please include your preferred name or alias with your comment. If you work for an institution that you want us to recognize, please mention that as well.

Recent winners. If you’ve won the puzzler in the last few months, look at this week as a new challenge — can you get all five image locations?

Good luck!

31 Comments and counting

Earth Week Puzzler #1

Each month, Earth Observatory offers up a puzzling satellite image here on Earth Matters. In celebration of Earth Month 2013, we’re upping the ante. We are going to release a new puzzler image every day this week.  The first image is above. Your challenge is to use the comments section to tell us what part of the world we are looking at, when the image was acquired, and why the scene is interesting. We’ll post the answer to all five puzzlers at 6 p.m. EST on Friday, April 26. 

How to answer. Your answer can be a few words or several paragraphs. (Try to keep it shorter than 200 words). You might simply tell us what part of the world an image shows. Or you can dig deeper and explain what satellite and instrument produced the image, what spectral bands were used to create it, or what is compelling about some obscure speck in the far corner of an image. If you think something is interesting or noteworthy, tell us about it.

The prize. We can’t offer prizes, but we can promise you credit and glory (well, maybe just credit). Later this week when we post annotated and captioned versions of the puzzler images as our Image of the Day, we will acknowledge the people who were first to correctly ID the images. We’ll also recognize people who offer the most interesting tidbits of information. Please include your preferred name or alias with your comment. If you work for an institution that you want us to recognize, please mention that as well.

Recent winners. If you’ve won the puzzler in the last few months, look at this week as a new challenge — can you get all five image locations?

Good luck!

84 Comments and counting

Longshot Captures the First Tournament Earth

Tournament: Earth 2013 has come to a stunning end. A newcomer to the landscape—a volcano that wasn’t even above the water’s surface at the beginning of 2012—literally came out of nowhere to win our first-ever tournament. The #7 seeded El Hierro submarine eruption from the “events” bracket captured the overall crown.

In a true Cinderella story, the underwater volcano proceeded to knock off four higher seeds before meeting another #7 seed—the crack in the Pine Island Glacier—in the final. The matchup was not even close, as El Hierro romped with 91 percent of the votes.

Perhaps sensing its impending victory, El Hierro began stirring in late March 2013. According to Erik Klemetti’s “Eruptions” volcanology blog, earthquake swarms beneath the island suggested that magma was on the move. Perhaps a volcano will soon be popping some lava champagne to celebrate the win.

Here is a walk through the opponents that El Hierro tossed aside on it’s month-long romp through earthly fame:

ROUND 1: Overnight View of Hurricane Sandy (#2 seed, events bracket)

ROUND 2: GOES View of Hurricane Sandy (#3 seed, events bracket)

ROUND 3: New Volcanic Island in the Red Sea (#5 seed, events bracket)

ROUND 4: Night Lights 2012 – Flat Map (#2 seed, Earth at night bracket)

ROUND 5: Flying Through a Crack in the Ice (#7 seed, data bracket)

27 Comments and counting