Earth Matters

July Puzzler

July 23rd, 2024 by Kathryn Hansen


Update: This Landsat 8 image shows ship wakes and wind turbines in the Atlantic Ocean near Block Island, which flanks southern New England. Congratulations to Rafael and Jim Steinert for being the first to identify these features and the image’s location. Read more about the area in “A Piece of Rhode Island in the Atlantic.”

Every month on Earth Matters, we offer a puzzling satellite image. The July 2024 puzzler is shown above. Your challenge is to use the comments section to tell us where it is, what we are looking at, and why it is interesting.

How to answer. You can use a few words or several paragraphs. You might simply tell us the location, or you can dig deeper and offer details about what satellite and instrument produced the image, what spectral bands were used to create it, or what is compelling about some obscure feature. If you think something is interesting or noteworthy, tell us about it.

The prize. We cannot offer prize money or a trip on the International Space Station, but we can promise you credit and glory. Well, maybe just credit. Within a week after a puzzler image appears on this blog, we will post an annotated and captioned version as our Image of the Day. After we post the answer, we will acknowledge the first person to correctly identify the image at the bottom of this blog post. We also may recognize readers who offer the most interesting tidbits of information. Please include your preferred name or alias with your comment. If you work for or attend an institution that you would like to recognize, please mention that as well.

Recent winners. If you have won the puzzler in the past few months, or if you work in geospatial imaging, please hold your answer for at least a day to give less experienced readers a chance.

Releasing comments. Savvy readers have solved some puzzlers after a few minutes. To give more people a chance, we may wait 24 to 48 hours before posting comments. Good luck!

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17 Responses to “July Puzzler”

  1. Janet Hayes says:

    I believe this photo was taken in the Mediteranean Sea off the coast of Marseilles France.

  2. Janet Hayes says:

    In the Mediteranean Sea off the coast of Marseilles Franse. Specifically seeing the Island of Chateau d’If in upper left corner.

  3. Janet Hayes says:

    In the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Marseilles France. Specifically seeing the Island of Chateau d’If in upper left corner.

  4. Rafael says:

    It`s the nearby of Block island, we can see a wind farm and ship sediment plumes

  5. Laurie says:

    The surface of Mars. Puzzling because it has small points of
    moving objects?

  6. Stillman Rockefeller says:

    Marianna Trench

  7. Thomas-Wolfgang Rohan says:

    The Mariana trench in the Pacific ocean. The deepest part of the world.

  8. Jim Steinert says:

    The shoreline of Block Island, NY from Mohegan Bluffs to the sandspit of New Shoreham is visible. The moving vessel and its wake provides scale and the regularly spaced wind turbines offshore nails it.

  9. Nerissa-Cesarina Urbani says:

    SAHARA INFRARED VIEW

  10. Jeff Ward says:

    This looks like submerged scour marks.

    I don’t know where, but they mght be related to glacial activity or perhaps by rolling stones perhaps released by seismic activity.

  11. Ivan Kordač says:

    Got it!!!

    Block island – east side

    turistic activities and lines of them… to east and south of them

    41.17186131204349, -71.55839021523975

  12. Aleksandar says:

    Boat’s trails

  13. Dr WAYNE MARTINDALE says:

    A punt but…….Ship trails in algal blooms across Lake Eire

    It must be ship trails if not Lake Eire somewhere else

  14. John Mitrakas says:

    Goodevening and happy and safe symmer holidays to everyone.
    I see many ship tracks, ship, olympic games time and i think its the straights between England and France.
    Ελληνικά είναι το στενό της Μάγχης, αλλά στην αγγλική πώς;
    Have a nice time

  15. Teresa Barkat says:

    coast of japan in atlantic osean

  16. Teresa Barkat says:

    sorry south pacific near japan.

  17. Teresa Barkat says:

    south pacific near japan.