Satellite Images

Next-Generation Weather Satellite Captures Earth’s Atmospheric Chaos in Striking Detail

The first images from the European Space Agency’s MTG-S satellite offer an early look at how the mission will improve weather forecasting across Europe and Northern Africa.

Earth Science Ellyn Lapointe Jan 29

The flooded area as seen on February 17.

NASA Captures Devastating Tennessee Floods From Space After Winter Storm Drenches Region

Storms that swept across the American southeast caused multiple rivers in the state to overflow, killing nine and forcing the rescue of more than 1,000 people.

Earth Science Isaac Schultz Feb 19

An extratropical cyclone sweeping over the Pacific Northwest.

Satellite Image Reveals Staggering ‘Bomb Cyclone’ Hammering the Pacific Northwest

The huge storm shows how weather systems can rapidly intensify and wreak havoc on the ground.

Earth Science Isaac Schultz Nov 21

Satellite imagery of Hurricane Milton lightning

NOAA’s New Lightning Satellite Just Captured Some Terrifyingly Wild Footage

Advanced space imagery of hurricane lightning could pave the way for better models of how the devastating storms form.

Earth Science Adam Kovac Oct 18

Satellite Images Reveal New Penguin Colonies in Melting Antarctica

Satellites have spotted eight new emperor penguin colonies in Antarctica, as well as confirmed the existence of three others. While this sounds good, the unfortunate reality is that these newly discovered penguins are just as threatened as the rest. Documented in a paper published in the Remote Sensing in Ecology and Conservation journal on Tuesday,…

Earther Yessenia Funes Aug 4

Smoke From Australia’s Horrific Wildfires, as Seen From Space

Significant portions of Australia’s southeast coast are completely blanketed in thick smoke, as revealed by these upsetting new satellite images. New images posted to NASA’s Earth Observatory show the grim effects of Australia’s historically bad wildfire season, which continues to worsen. A natural-color photo (above) taken on July 24, 2019 by the Landsat 8 satellite…

Earth Science George Dvorsky Jan 3

Satellite Imagery Can Now Be Used to Predict When Bridges Might Collapse

Satellite images can make it easier to get around when you’re using apps like Google Maps, but researchers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab and the UK’s University of Bath believe advanced satellite imagery can also be used for a more critical purpose: analyzing structures like bridges for tiny movements that could be signs of potential collapse.…

Tech News Andrew Liszewski Jul 10

Relive the Pain of This Week’s Awful Snowstorm With This Satellite GIF

My apologies to anyone who doesn’t happen to live in the Northeastern United States. I don’t want you to feel bad for us. But I do want you to recognize the fact that we’ve been walloped with four enormous snowstorms in three weeks. Adding insult to injury, the most recent one occurred the day after…

Tech News Ryan F. Mandelbaum Mar 23

Urban Heat Created a Massive Hole in New Delhi’s Pollution-Fueled Fog

Since at least 2014, satellites have been showing odd holes in the fog over Indian cities. Scientists didn’t know why until they published a paper about it earlier this year in Geophysical Research Letters. As it turned out, the fog resulted from aerosol pollution in these cities, but cities also emit warmth, which reduces the…

Environmental Justice Yessenia Funes Feb 22

Hordes of Beavers Are Invading Alaska’s Tundra

Research shown at last week’s American Geophysical Union meeting revealed that everyone’s favorite rodent has been using sticks to build dams on the Alaska’s treeless tundra. The colonization is reshaping the geography of the north and could allow other animals to follow beavers into the brave new warming world. It also comes with a downside,…

Earther Brian Kahn Dec 20

This Is What Air Pollution Looks Like From Space

The world’s most advanced air pollution monitoring satellite recently sent back its first images, illustrating the increasingly hazardous global air pollution problem and offering a preview of monitoring improvements yet to come. Recording this data will help scientists better understand how these atmospheric processes are linked to climate and help them find effective solutions to…

Earther Yessenia Funes Dec 19

Satellite Images Show the Ongoing Wildfire Devastation in Southern California

Beginning Monday night, dry conditions combined with the most intense Santa Ana wind event of the year started a massive series of wildfires just north of Los Angeles in what has already been California’s most destructive wildfire year. The fires have been nearly unstoppable, raging unchecked over hillsides and through cities. Satellites images that have…

Earther Brian Kahn Dec 6

NOAA’s New Satellite Sent Back Its First Data and It’s Super Pretty

It’s been less than two weeks since the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) newest satellite blasted into orbit, but it’s already sending back data. The agency released the first data from its new satellite, NOAA-20, on Thursday. It shows water vapor swirling around the globe, painted in gorgeous greens, blues, and purples. The instrument…

Earther Brian Kahn Nov 30

This NASA Animation Is Like a Van Gogh Painting of Our Recent Hellish Weather

For a while, it felt like the weather disasters were never going to stop. A terrible hurricane season spawned storms that wrecked entire islands and cities while racking up hundreds of billions in damages. It even saw a storm sail away to Ireland. The most destructive wildfires in California history devastated Wine Country. British Columbia…

Earther Brian Kahn Nov 15

Satellite Images Show the Horror That the Wine Country Fires Wrought on the Landscape

The wildfires have been mostly squelched in Northern California but the long road to recovery still stands ahead. New satellite imagery reveals just how far the damage extends from the destructive firestorm that rocked the region earlier this month. As of Wednesday, the fires were 93% contained according to CALFIRE, but they’ve left a heartbreaking…

Earther Brian Kahn Oct 26

Satellite Images Reveal the Horrific Scope of Alberta’s Wildfires

Wildfires continue to ravage the Canadian province of Alberta, and experts say they could double in size and take months to extinguish. Here are the latest space-based images of this unprecedented natural disaster. Fire crews in Fort McMurray say it’ll be weeks before the city is deemed safe. Wildfires began to spread through the city…

Tech News George Dvorsky May 10

Stare In Awe At This Fiery Footage Of A Solar Eruption In Progress

The Solar & Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) project satellite captured this dazzling, hypnotic footage of a solar eruption yesterday. SOHO is a joint effort between the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA; its purpose, besides capturing incredible images like the one above, is “to study the internal structure of the Sun, its extensive outer atmosphere and…

io9 Cheryl Eddy Feb 22

The Eye of the Sahara Is An Enigmatic Desert Landmark

The desert creates gorgeous structures, and the Eye of the Sahara is no exception. The stunning structure of bare rock peeks out from a sea of sand, forming a beautiful landmark for astronauts overhead. While circular usually means impacts or eruptions, the eye emerged from differential erosion. Top Image: The Richat Structure in Mauritania as…

Tech News Mika McKinnon Oct 9

Behold, A Fresh Collection of Free-to-Use Satellite Images

The DOVES are a flock of microsatellites tasked with rapid Earth imaging. Now all those images are free-to-use under a creative commons license. Top image: San Francisco Bay, California. Nature reserves, salt ponds, and levee trails to the east, the Dumbarton Bridge spanning East Palo Alto and Fremont, with Facebook’s campus to the southwest. Credit:…

Tech News Mika McKinnon Aug 29

Can You Recognize Earth’s Most Famous Landmarks From 500 Miles Above?

You may know these sites at a glance from ground-level. But can you still identify them when looking down from space? The ESA put together this look at some of the most famous spots on earth from far above to see which ones are still recognizable. Some of them, like the famous set of islands…

io9 Ria Misra Jun 12

Satellite Images

Next-Generation Weather Satellite Captures Earth’s Atmospheric Chaos in Striking Detail

NASA Captures Devastating Tennessee Floods From Space After Winter Storm Drenches Region

Satellite Image Reveals Staggering ‘Bomb Cyclone’ Hammering the Pacific Northwest

NOAA’s New Lightning Satellite Just Captured Some Terrifyingly Wild Footage

Satellite Images Reveal New Penguin Colonies in Melting Antarctica

Smoke From Australia’s Horrific Wildfires, as Seen From Space

Satellite Imagery Can Now Be Used to Predict When Bridges Might Collapse

Relive the Pain of This Week’s Awful Snowstorm With This Satellite GIF

Urban Heat Created a Massive Hole in New Delhi’s Pollution-Fueled Fog

Hordes of Beavers Are Invading Alaska’s Tundra

This Is What Air Pollution Looks Like From Space

Satellite Images Show the Ongoing Wildfire Devastation in Southern California

NOAA’s New Satellite Sent Back Its First Data and It’s Super Pretty

This NASA Animation Is Like a Van Gogh Painting of Our Recent Hellish Weather

Satellite Images Show the Horror That the Wine Country Fires Wrought on the Landscape

Satellite Images Reveal the Horrific Scope of Alberta’s Wildfires

Stare In Awe At This Fiery Footage Of A Solar Eruption In Progress

The Eye of the Sahara Is An Enigmatic Desert Landmark

Behold, A Fresh Collection of Free-to-Use Satellite Images

Can You Recognize Earth’s Most Famous Landmarks From 500 Miles Above?

‘Exit 8’ Is a Satisfying, Scary Twitch Stream Come to Life

Sam Altman Says It’ll Take Another Year Before ChatGPT Can Start a Timer

SpaceX Starship V3 Engine Goes Up in Flames at Texas Site

Rise and Shine and Grab the Breakfast Drugs: the ‘Rick and Morty’ Season 9 Trailer Is Here

Delta Becomes Third Airline to Hike Bag Fees as the Iran War Makes Jet Fuel More Expensive

Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3 Touchscreen Laptop Is Now Cheaper Than an Entry-Level iPad at Best Buy

Polaroid’s New Hi-Print for Phone Photos Doubles as a Freestanding Frame

Researchers Turned Acid From Car Batteries Into Something Surprisingly Useful

Aqara Thermostat Hub W200 Review: Almost Better than My Ecobee

HP Omen Max 45L Review: 4K60 Gaming Has Never Been So Easy

Ecovacs Winbot W3 Omni Review: Window Cleaning Robots Have a Long Way to Go

AirPods Max 2 vs. Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen): Which ANC Headphones Win?

The Best Gadgets of March 2026

AirPods Max 2 Review: Still Ridiculously Expensive and Ridiculously Nice

DJI Osmo 360 Review: The Best 360 Camera for the DJI-Pilled

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