Popocatepetl Volcano

Mexico's active Popocatepetl volcano, located about 40 miles southeast of Mexico City, has been spewing water vapor, gas, ashes and glowing rocks since its most recent eruption period began in April 2012. Civil defense authorities have set up evacuation shelters should they become necessary. In 2000, eruptions of the nearly 18,000-foot-high (5,400 meter) volcano led to the evacuation of tens of thousands of residents. More than 30 million people live within sight of the mountain.

The Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) instrument on NASA's Terra spacecraft acquired these two images on April 23, 2012. The left image is in simulated natural color; the right image combines three thermal infrared channels, displaying the eruption plume in purple and pink, blowing toward the northeast. A small hotspot can be seen in the summit crater. The image covers an area of 19.2 by 27.6 miles (30 by 44.5 kilometers) and is located at 19 degrees north latitude, 98.6 degrees west longitude.

Photo credit: NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team

Moskva at Night

Moscow appears at the center of this nighttime image photographed by the Expedition 30 crew aboard the International Space Station, flying at an altitude of approximately 240 miles on March 28, 2012. A solar array panel for the space station is on the left side of the frame. The view is to the north-northwest from a nadir of approximately 49.4 degrees north latitude and 42.1 degrees east longitude, about 100 miles west-northwest of Volgograd. The Aurora Borealis, airglow and daybreak frame the horizon.

Photo credit: NASA

Shadow of a Solar Eclipse

The International Space Station (ISS) was in position to view the umbral (ground) shadow cast by the Moon as it moved between Earth and the Sun during a solar eclipse on March 29, 2006. This astronaut image captures the umbral shadow across southern Turkey, northern Cyprus and the Mediterranean Sea.

Photo credit: NASA

Portugal and Spain

Envisat’s Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) captured this image on 8 April 2012 at 13:05 CEST. The image was transmitted in Ka-band to ESA/ESRIN though direct transmission via Artemis, the ESA Data Relay satellite. The image, which is of nominal quality, shows Portugal and Spain. It is the last Envisat data transmitted via Ka-band before the communication anomaly affected the Envisat satellite.

Photo credit: ESA

Greenland Coast

The west coast of Greenland is one of Earth's premiere incubators for icebergs, large blocks of land ice that break off from glaciers or ice shelves and float in the ocean, where they are transported by winds and currents and can pose potential threats to shipping. The Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) instrument on NASA's Terra spacecraft captured this image of icebergs off the west coast of Greenland, on July 17, 2005. The largest iceberg in the image, seen in the top center of the image coming off of a glacier, is about 4,128 feet (1,270 meters) in length. The image covers an area of 26.8 by 29.3 miles (43.2 by 47.2 kilometers), and is located at 74.6 degrees north latitude, 56.7 degrees west longitude. The reddish color on land is vegetation.

Photo credit: NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team

The Tibetan Plateau

Frozen lakes dotting the Tibetan Plateau in Central Asia are pictured in this image, acquired on 30 January 2012 by ESA’s Envisat satellite.

To its south Tibet is boarded by the Himalayan mountain range – part of which is visible in the lower-left corner of the image. To the northwest, we can see part of the Kunlun mountains, separating the plateau from the Tarim Basin. Both salt- and freshwater lakes are visible across the steppe – many of which freeze for many months of the year.

Photo credit: ESA

Perpetual Ocean

Driven by wind and other forces, currents on the ocean surface cover our planet. Some span hundreds to thousands of miles across vast ocean basins in well-defined flows. Others are confined to particular regions and form slow-moving, circular pools. Seen from space, the circulating waters offer a study in both chaos and order. The visualization below, based on ocean temperature, salinity, sea surface height and sea ice data collected during field observations and by NASA satellites between July 2005 and December 2007, highlights many of the world's most important ocean surface currents. Watch powerful, fast-moving currents like the Gulf Stream in the Atlantic Ocean and the Kuroshio in the Pacific Ocean carry warm waters northeastward at speeds greater than 4 mph. View coastal currents such as the Agulhas in the Southern Hemisphere transporting equatorial waters from the Indian Ocean farther southwards. Explore the image collection to compare the direction and unique flow pattern of each of these major currents.

Video credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

Baiyun Ebo, China

A mine in Baiyun Ebo, Inner Mongolia, China is the site of almost half the world's rare earth production. China is responsible for over 95% of global production of rare earth elements. These elements are critical ingredients in catalytic converters, cell phones, televisions, lasers, magnets, batteries, and other high-tech gizmos. China's export restrictions have led the US, Japan and the European Union to complain to the World Trade Organization, claiming China was violating trade agreements. The US at one time was a leading producer of rare earths, but most of the mines have been closed. Recently, several US companies are in the process of attempting to re-open these mines and resume mining of rare earths. The image covers an area of 15 x 19 km, was acquired on June 30, 2006, and is located near 41.8 degrees north latitude, 110 degrees east longitude.

Photo credit: NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team

Flooding in Fiji

Fiji was hard hit by heavy rains in early 2012, causing flooding and landslides. Hardest hit was the western part of the main island of Viti Levu, Fiji, and the principal city of Nadi. Thousands of people were displaced and the Disaster Management Office declared a state of emergency. In this simulated natural color image acquired by the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) instrument on NASA's Terra spacecraft on April 7, 2012, the muddy overflowing Nadi River and its tributaries are seen winding through the city of Nadi. The image covers an area of 10.7 by 12.5 miles (17.3 by 20.1 kilometers), and is located at 17.6 degrees south latitude, 177.7 degrees east longitude.

Photo credit: NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team

The British Isles and the North Atlantic

Flying at an altitude of about 240 miles over the eastern North Atlantic, the Expedition 30 crew aboard the International Space Station photographed this nighttime scene. This view looks northeastward. Center point coordinates are 46.8 degrees north latitude and 14.3 degrees west longitude. The night lights of the cities of Ireland, in the foreground, and the United Kingdom, in the back and to the right, are contrasted by the bright sunrise in the background. The greens and purples of the Aurora Borealis are seen along the rest of the horizon.

This image was taken on March 28, 2012.

Photo credit: NASA

Update: A similar image can be found here.

Dubai

City lights of Dubai, United Arab Emirates, are featured in this image taken by the Expedition 30 crew aboard the International Space Station. The City of Dubai--the largest metropolitan area within the emirate of Dubai--is a favorite subject of astronaut photography largely due to the unique artificial archipelagos situated directly offshore in the Persian Gulf, which were built such that their full design is only visible from the vantage point of an airplane -- or an orbiting spacecraft. The city presents an eye-catching appearance at night that vividly displays the urban development pattern. In this detailed image, taken with a long focal length lens and digital camera optimized for fast response and high light sensitivity, several interesting patterns can be observed. The highways and major streets are sharply defined by yellow-orange lighting, while the commercial and residential areas are resolved into a speckle pattern of individual white, blue and yellow-orange lights. Several large and brilliantly lit areas are large hotel and mall complexes, including the Burj Khalifa Tower, the world's tallest building at 2,717 feet, or 828 meters. The brilliant lighting of the city contrasts sharply with both the dark Persian Gulf to the northwest, and largely undeveloped and unlit areas to the southeast. Likewise, the clusters of lighting in the Palm Jumeira complex at bottom right correspond to the relatively small part of the archipelago that has been developed. Isolated areas of blurred city lights are due to patchy clouds.

Photo credit: NASA

Melbourne at Night

Melbourne, Australia, at night taken by ESA astronaut André Kuipers from the International Space Station with the NightPod camera aid.

Cameras mounted on NightPod track the movement of Earth as it flies under the Space Station. Night-time photographs are less blurred and captured in higher detail.

Photo credit: ESA/NASA

Larsen B: 2002-2012

This animation shows radar images from the Envisat satellite from 2002 to 2012 of the Larsen B ice shelf in Antarctica. Over the last decade, the ice shelf has disintegrated by 1790 sq km.

Photo credit: ESA

Bonaire, Curaçao and Aruba

Bonaire, Curaçao and Aruba seen from the International Space Station. This picture was taken by ESA astronaut André Kuipers. A picture of this area was requested via social media. André managed to take the picture and upload it to the Internet two weeks later while onboard the Space Station.

Photo credit: ESA/NASA

Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

Santo Domingo is the capital of the Dominican Republic. Founded in 1496 by Christopher Columbus, it is the oldest continuously inhabited European settlement in the Americas, with the America's first cathedral, hospital, customs house and university. The town was laid out in a grid pattern that became the model for almost all town planners in the New World. The image was acquired May 18, 2011, covers an area of 24 x 30 km, and is located at 18.5 degrees north latitude, 70 degrees west longitude.

Photo credit: NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team

Salt Lake in the Australian Outback

The Australian Outback is full of colorful geological structures, such as this salt lake.

This photo was taken by ESA astronaut André Kuipers and released during Earth Hour on Saturday 31 March 2012.

Earth Hour is a world effort to raise awareness about the need to take action on climate change. World Wide Fund for Nature ambassador André Kuipers and ESA supported the initiative.

Photo credit: ESA/NASA