This detailed astronaut photograph features surface currents illuminated by mirror-like reflections of sunlight off the waters around the Malée Atoll in the Maldive Islands.
Published Mar 1, 2010
The play of sunlight on water gives definition to the jagged coastlines of Sardinia and Corsica.
Published Jun 14, 2020
Astronauts aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery used the sunglint off the surface of the Mediterranean Sea to reveal biogenic films on the ocean surface (“Biogenic film” refers to a thin layer of biologically-produced film resting on the surface.). The films dampen surface capillary waves, creating brighter and darker reflections, which, in turn, trace the complex surface water movements along the coast. The sunglint also highlights coastal features (jetties, submerged costal areas) near the Port of Suez.
Published Sep 23, 2001
Sunglint shows textures and patterns on the surface of the ocean that would otherwise be invisible.
Published Aug 9, 2013
When an eastward flow of air hit the Balleny Islands, it formed a wave pattern in the clouds and on the ocean surface.
Published Dec 8, 2017
The combination of sunlight, islands, and wind painted this scene on the surface of the Caribbean Sea.
Published Apr 19, 2014
Sunglint reveals the wind and wave patterns in the wake of the Canary Islands.
Published Jun 20, 2013
Winds ruffling the water surface around the Hawaiian Islands create varying patterns, leaving some areas calmer than others. On the leeward sides of the islands, calmer waters show up as brighter silver coloration. Conversely, most vegetation grows on the windward sides.
Published Jun 3, 2003
Submerged in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Spain and Portugal are giant, salty whirlpools of warm water. These deep-water whirlpools are part of the ocean’s circulatory system, and they help drive the ocean currents that moderate Earth’s climate. Warm water ordinarily sits at the ocean’s surface, but the warm water flowing out of the Mediterranean Sea is so salty (and therefore dense) that when it enters the Atlantic Ocean at the Strait of Gibraltar, it sinks to depths of more than 1,000 meters (one-half mile) along the continental shelf. This underwater river then separates into clockwise-flowing eddies that may continue to spin westward for more than two years, often coalescing with other eddies to form giant, salty whirlpools that may stretch for hundreds of miles. Because the eddies originate from the Mediterranean Sea, scientists call them “Meddies.”
Published Mar 23, 2006
Light reflecting off the waters around Crete indicates a smooth, mirror-like surface.
Published Jul 6, 2017
A wave of warm water pooling in the central and eastern Pacific appears as a large area of higher-than-normal sea surface heights in this image from early November.
Published Nov 19, 2009
