Astronaut Photography

Cape Farewell, Greenland
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Cape Farewell, Greenland

The image is highly oblique—taken from an angle looking outwards from the ISS, rather than straight down towards the Earth—and this perspective provides a sense of topography along the southern edge of Greenland. The exposed dark grey bedrock along the southwestern coastline has been carved by glaciers into numerous fjords, steep-sided valleys that drain directly into the ocean.

Published Aug 25, 2008

Image of the Day Land Snow and Ice

Dry Tortugas, Florida
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Dry Tortugas, Florida

The Dry Tortugas are a group of islands located approximately 75 miles west of Key West, Florida; they form the western end of the Florida Keys in the Gulf of Mexico. This astronaut photograph highlights three islands in the group: Bush Key, Hospital Key, and Garden Key, which is the site of Fort Jefferson, a Civil War-era fort.

Published Aug 18, 2008

Image of the Day Land Water

Pyramids of Dashur, Egypt
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Pyramids of Dashur, Egypt

While the pyramids of Giza are perhaps the most famous, there are several other ancient Egyptian royal necropolis (“city of the dead”) sites situated along the Nile River and its delta. One of these sites is near the village of Dashur, illustrated in this astronaut photograph.

Published Aug 11, 2008

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Polar Mesospheric Clouds Over Central Asia
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Polar Mesospheric Clouds Over Central Asia

Polar mesospheric clouds (also known as noctilucent, or “night-shining” clouds) are transient, upper atmospheric phenomena that are usually observed in the summer months at high latitudes (greater than 50 degrees) of both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. They appear bright and cloudlike while in deep twilight. They are illuminated by sunlight when the lower layers of the atmosphere are in the darkness of Earth’s shadow.

Published Aug 4, 2008

Image of the Day Atmosphere

Sentinel Volcanic Field, Arizona
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Sentinel Volcanic Field, Arizona

This detailed astronaut photograph depicts a portion of the Gila River channel in south-central Arizona. The northernmost boundary of the Sentinel Volcanic Field is visible in the image, recognizable by the irregular flow fronts of thin basalt lava flows. Active agricultural fields along the Gila River are a rich green set against the surrounding desert.

Published Jul 28, 2008

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Cordillera Huayhuash, Peruvian Andes
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Cordillera Huayhuash, Peruvian Andes

This astronaut photograph was taken looking east as the International Space Station was flying about 100 kilometers (about 62 miles) off the Peruvian coast and shows Cordillera Huayhuash (pronounced “Why-wash”).

Published Jul 21, 2008

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Piute Fire, Sequoia National Forest
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Piute Fire, Sequoia National Forest

The Piute Fire, burning south of Lake Isabella in the Sequoia National Forest in the southern Sierra Nevada Mountains, was one of the more than 300 wildfires burning across the state of California in early July 2008.

Published Jul 14, 2008

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Fires in California
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Fires in California

One of the largest and most destructive fires raging across California over the weekend of July 4 was the Basin Fire, threatening Big Sur, and covering the coast in a thick blanket of smoke.

Published Jul 10, 2008

Land Fires

Toshka Lakes, Egypt
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Toshka Lakes, Egypt

In the late 1990s, Egypt’s new manmade Toshka Lakes, fed from Lake Nasser via a canal, grew and spilled into new basins to become four major and two smaller lakes. Starting in 2002, astronauts have seen the lakes slowly decline, with the telltale ring of darker, moistened ground showing the previous higher water levels.

Published Jul 7, 2008

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Santorini Volcano, Greece
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Santorini Volcano, Greece

One of the largest volcanic eruptions in the past 10,000 years occurred in approximately 1620 BC on the volcanic island of Santorini in the Aegean Sea. This astronaut photograph illustrates the center of Santorini Volcano, located approximately 118 kilometers to the north of Crete.

Published Jun 30, 2008

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Vermilion Cliffs and Paria River, Arizona
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Vermilion Cliffs and Paria River, Arizona

he largest tributary of the Colorado River between Lake Powell and the Grand Canyon, the Paria River flows southeast from its headwaters in southernmost Utah to join the Colorado River between Page, Arizona, and Marble Canyon. The Paria River provides spectacular scenery, and is known for the very narrow “slot” canyons that it cuts through the layered rocks of the Colorado Plateau.

Published Jun 23, 2008

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Isla de la Palma, Canary Islands
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Isla de la Palma, Canary Islands

The Canary Islands, a group of volcanic islands, lie just off the west coast of Morocco in the Atlantic Ocean; at the northwest end of the chain is Isla de la Palma. This astronaut photograph highlights volcanic landforms on the southern portion of Isla de la Palma.

Published Jun 16, 2008

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NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA
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NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA

This astronaut photograph illustrates the diverse built environment surrounding the NASA Ames Research Center located at the southernmost end of San Francisco Bay. Founded in 1939 as an aircraft research laboratory, Ames became a NASA facility in 1958. Its original aircraft research focus was enhanced by the adjacent Moffett Field—an active Naval Air Station until 1994, and the original home of the Navy dirigible U.S.S. Macon. The large hanger for docking the U.S.S. Macon is still present at Moffett Field, and is visible in this astronaut photograph (image center). Today, NASA Ames includes the former Naval Air Station, and it continues its focus on aeronautics in addition to nanotechnology, information technology, fundamental space biology, biotechnology, thermal protection systems, and human factors research.

Published Jun 9, 2008

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Volcanic Plumes and Vog,  Hawaii
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Volcanic Plumes and Vog, Hawaii

An oblique view (the astronaut was looking towards the southwest, rather than straight down) of the Hawaiian Islands taken from the International Space Station on a hazy spring day includes a regional view of three volcanic plumes from Kilauea that contributed to the vog: the plume from Halema’uma’u crater, from the Pu’u O’o vent along the east rift, and a plume from where lava enters the ocean on the coast.

Published Jun 2, 2008

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Zion Canyon, Utah
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Zion Canyon, Utah

Located in southwestern Utah along the western margin of the Colorado Plateau, the park was established in 1919 after roadway improvements allowed access to the Mukuntuweap National Monument.

Published May 26, 2008

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Moselle River Gorge, Germany
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Moselle River Gorge, Germany

The Moselle (Mosel in German) is the best known of the 13 German wine-growing regions. This detailed image (width covers a distance of 14.5 kilometers, or about 9 miles) shows the winding Moselle River flowing north (left to right).

Published May 19, 2008

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Lake Pontchartrain and the Bonnet Carre Spillway, Louisiana
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Lake Pontchartrain and the Bonnet Carre Spillway, Louisiana

Lake Pontchartrain, immediately north of New Orleans, occupies the upper part of this astronaut photograph from April 29, 2008, with the winding course of the muddy Mississippi River snaking across the bottom of the view (flow is eastward, from left to right). The city of New Orleans is sandwiched between the lake and the river.

Published May 12, 2008

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Burren Plateau, County Clare, Ireland
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Burren Plateau, County Clare, Ireland

Adjoining Galway Bay to the north, the Burren Plateau (Burren is Gaelic for “stony place”) is an example of karst terrain. Karst terrain is generally formed when sedimentary rocks are dissolved by groundwater. This astronaut photograph illustrates the northwestern-most portion of the Burren Plateau, which is characterized by the distinctive bare exposures of almost horizontal, layered Paleozoic-age limestone rocks that form Gleninagh Mountain.

Published May 5, 2008

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Los Angeles at Night
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Los Angeles at Night

In this image, an astronaut photograph of the Los Angeles area is overlaid on a topographic image made from the United States Geological Survey National Elevation Dataset (1 arcsecond resolution). The grid of streets is outlined by orange (sodium vapor) and blue-green (mercury vapor) lights. The airport, the naval docks, and downtown LA are especially bright.

Published May 1, 2008

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Cerro Culiacan, Mexico
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Cerro Culiacan, Mexico

This astronaut photograph highlights Cerro (Spanish for “hill”) Culiacan, part of the 50,000 km2 Michoacán-Guanajuato volcanic field of west-central Mexico. The volcanic field contains over 1,400 known vents, with cinder cones, steep, cone-shaped hills, being the dominant landform. Cerro Culiacan however, is a shield volcano, a more gently sloping mound formed by basaltic lavas.

Published Apr 28, 2008

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Tokyo at Night
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Tokyo at Night

This nighttime photograph of Tokyo, Japan, was taken by International Space Station astronaut Dan Tani on February 5, 2008. The heart of the city is brightest, with ribbons of lights radiating outward from the center along streets and railways.

Published Apr 22, 2008

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Cananea Copper Mine, Sonora, Mexico
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Cananea Copper Mine, Sonora, Mexico

One of the largest open-pit copper mines in the world, the Cananea mine produced over 164,000 tonnes of copper in 2006. The active, 2-kilometer-diameter Colorada Pit is recognizable by the concentric steps, or benches, cut around its perimeter.

Published Apr 21, 2008

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Harrat Khaybar Volcanic Field
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Harrat Khaybar Volcanic Field

The western half of the Arabian Peninsula contains not only large expanses of sand and gravel, but extensive lava fields known as haraat. One such field is the 14,000-square-kilometer Harrat Khaybar, located approximately 137 kilometers to the northeast of the city of Al Madinah (Medina). The volcanic field was formed by eruptions along a 100-kilometer, north-south vent system over the past 5 million years. The most recent recorded eruption took place between 600–700 AD.

Published Apr 14, 2008

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Semien Mountains, Ethiopia
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Semien Mountains, Ethiopia

The Semien Mountains are the highest parts of the Ethiopian Plateau (more than 2,000 meters; or 6,560 feet). They are surrounded by a steep, ragged escarpment (step), with dramatic vertical cliffs, pinnacles, and rock spires. Although the plateau lies in the latitude of the Sahara–Arabia deserts, its high altitude makes for a cool, wet climate. In fact, the Semien Mountains are one of the few places in Africa to regularly receive snow, and they receive plentiful rainfall (more than 1,280 millimeters, or 55 inches). The moderate climate is shown by light green vegetation on the mountains, compared with the brown canyons, which are hot and dry.

Published Apr 7, 2008

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Dendi Caldera, Ethiopia
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Dendi Caldera, Ethiopia

The approximately 4-kilometer-wide Dendi Caldera includes some of this silica-rich volcanic rock: the rim of the caldera, visible in this astronaut photograph, is mostly made of poorly consolidated ash erupted during the Tertiary Period (approximately 65–2 million years ago).

Published Mar 31, 2008

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Al Wadj Bank, Saudi Arabia
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Al Wadj Bank, Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia boasts the most coral reefs of any Middle Eastern country, as it includes coastline along both the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf. This high-resolution astronaut photograph shows part of the Al Wadj Bank, located along the northern Red Sea coast. Despite the relatively high salinity of Red Sea water (compared to other oceans), approximately 260 species of coral have been documented in the region.

Published Mar 24, 2008

Image of the Day Water

Lake Fucine, Italy
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Lake Fucine, Italy

The light tan oval in this image is the floor of a lake in central Italy that has been drained by a tunnel dug through the surrounding hills. Numerous rectangular fields occupy the former lake bottom—now one of the most fertile regions of Italy. The area is still referred to as “Fucine Lake,” even though the lake has been dry for nearly 150 years.

Published Mar 17, 2008

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Cumulonimbus Cloud over Africa
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Cumulonimbus Cloud over Africa

Perhaps the most impressive of cloud formations, cumulonimbus (from the Latin for “pile” and “rain cloud”) clouds form due to vigorous convection (rising and overturning) of warm, moist, and unstable air. Surface air is warmed by the sun-heated ground surface and rises; if sufficient atmospheric moisture is present, water droplets will condense as the air mass encounters cooler air at higher altitudes. The air mass itself also expands and cools as it rises due to decreasing atmospheric pressure, a process known as adiabatic cooling. This type of convection is common in tropical latitudes year-round and during the summer season at higher latitudes.

Published Mar 10, 2008

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Perth Amboy, New Jersey
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Perth Amboy, New Jersey

Originally known simply as “Amboy,” “Perth” was added to the name in honor of the Earl of Perth when the city became the capital of East Jersey in 1686. Together with South Amboy across the Raritan River, both cities are collectively known today as “the Amboys.” Perth Amboy is currently undergoing urban renewal and redevelopment to resume its former status as a resort destination.

Published Mar 3, 2008

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Mega-iceberg A53a, South Atlantic
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Mega-iceberg A53a, South Atlantic

The mega-iceberg A53a (upper image) measured close to 50 kilometers by 22 kilometers, about seven times the area of Manhattan Island, in mid-January 2008 when astronauts took the photographs for this mosaic. The images were acquired from the International Space Station (ISS), located 780 kilometers to the north of the iceberg at an altitude of 341 kilometers; the perspective distorts the oblong shape of the iceberg, making it look squarer than it actually is.

Published Feb 25, 2008

Image of the Day Land Water Snow and Ice