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A hummingbird shape in satellite data from NISAR is actually a mountaintop spotted in Antarctica. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech) In satellite data captured over Antarctica, what appears to be a beautiful, colorful hummingbird emerges from the crest of a mountaintop. What is it? While there are no hummingbirds flying around Antarctica, we can see what looks […]

An amateur astronomer’s plans for a camping vacation two years ago transformed into a possible crater find in Canada’s north. Amateur astronomer Joël Lapointe, using Google Maps to figure out his route for the 2024 vacation, saw some odd terrain in Quebec’s Côte-Nord region centered on Lake Marsal. Lapointe suspected it was an impact crater […]

Smoke from wildfires across Canada travels across both Canada and the U.S. in this satellite image captured by NOAA-21 on July 14, 2026. (Image credit: NASA Earth Observatory/Lauren Dauphin) The wildfires tearing across Canada are so extreme that the smoke billowing upward can be seen from space. What is it? Over 850 wildfires are currently […]

Sandbars and waves of rippling sand dunes can be seen from space amongst the turquoise ocean in the Bahamas. (Image credit: NASA/Chris Williams) If you look at this picture for too long, you might start to hear the waves lapping up against the shore or feel a salty breeze in the air. You might not […]

Swirls of wildfire smoke can be seen over Canada. (Image credit: NASA) Wildfires across the globe can be seen all the way from space. And one unexpected tool has come in handy to spot plumes of wildfire smoke: a satellite designed to study Earth’s oceans. What is it? In this photo, we can see swirls […]

Auroras from space dazzle in this image captured from the International Space Station by ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot. (Image credit: ESA/NASA/S. Adenot) If you’ve ever seen auroras in the night sky, then you are one of the lucky few who has enjoyed a view of one of nature’s most colorful and spectacular phenomena. But for […]

The solstice can even be seen from space in this new image from the Meteosat Third Generation (MTG) mission. (Image credit: ESA/Eumetsat) Twice each year, we celebrate what we call a solstice when Earth is at its maximum tilt toward or away from the sun. And during this June’s summer solstice, a European weather satellite […]

Mount Vesuvius as seen from space in 2026. (Image credit: ESA/NASA – S. Adenot) French astronaut Sophie Adenot captured the view of a lifetime in a new image of Mount Vesuvius, as seen from aboard the International Space Station. What is it? Adenot, an astronaut with the European Space Agency, is currently part of SpaceX’s […]

This composite image uses NISAR data to show vegetation in the area around South Africa. (Image credit: Image by Paul Siqueira (UMass Amherst) of the NISAR science team using data from the NISAR GCOV product, and prepared for NASA Earth Observatory by Michala Garrison.) A rainbow blanket of patchwork colors sprawls across South Africa in this […]

There might have only been thirteen named storms for the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season, but it only takes one storm to devastate communities in its path. Mother Nature conjured up five hurricanes last year, with four reaching major hurricane status on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. One of them, Hurricane Melissa, made landfall over Jamaica […]

The heat wave spreading across Europe, as seen in Sentinel-3 satellite data. (Image credit: contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data (2026), processed by ESA) Europe is experiencing a serious heat wave at the moment, and we have the satellite data to prove it. In new data from Europe’s Sentinel-3 mission, we can see the scorching temperatures […]

A sunset captured from space on May 4, 2026. (Image credit: NASA/Chris Williams) There are few sights as unanimously adored as a sunset. From the beach to the driver’s seat of a car, a sunset looks beautiful from anywhere. And, as we can see in this photograph, sunsets might be even more spectacular from space. […]

A NASA study reveals that Earth is glowing brighter at night overall — but not everywhere, and not in the way scientists expected. A new analysis of nearly a decade of satellite observations from NASA’s Black Marble project has revealed a surprisingly complex picture of how humanity’s activities are reshaping how our planet looks after […]

This image of Lake Argentino and the surrounding snow-capped mountains from space was captured by NASA astronaut Jessica Meir. (Image credit: NASA/Jessica Meir) Argentina’s towering, snow-capped Andes Mountains and turquoise lake waters are stunning from above in this new image captured from space. NASA astronaut Jessica Meir snapped this photograph, which depicts the Andes alongside […]

Mexico City is sinking, and a powerful new orbiting satellite that’s monitoring changes in land levels all across the globe has discovered how quickly this is happening. It’s all thanks to the mission’s innovative dual-frequency band radar. NISAR, the NASA–ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar satellite, launched on July 30, 2025 as a joint partnership between NASA […]

(Image credit: NASA/Jessica Meir) NASA astronaut Jessica Meir snapped a striking photo of a river snaking through the Amazon rainforest from space. What is it? The Ucayali River in central Peru was captured in a new image by Meir while aboard the International Space Station. The Ucayali, a lower extension of the Apurímac River, is […]

Artificial lights at night brightened up planet Earth by 16% between 2014 and 2022, a new study using satellite images has revealed. But some areas, including those struck by war and natural disasters, or those in countries with effective light pollution and energy-saving policies in place, are bucking the trend. From space, Earth at night […]

A growing lava dome and dark flow channels are visible inside Shivelyuch volcano’s caldera in this detailed Landsat 9 image captured on April 23, 2026. (Image credit: NASA Earth Observatory / Lauren Dauphin) Fresh satellite images have captured one of Russia’s most active volcanoes melting snow from the inside out as volcanic heat continues to […]

A still from a gif of the Kīlauea volcano erupting. (Image credit: CSU/CIRA & NOAA) On Sunday (June 14), the Hawaiian volcano Kīlauea erupted for the 49th time that we know of — marking its 49th “episode,” as scientists say. And during the show, the GOES-18 weather satellite caught the action: the volcano blasting lava […]

A photograph of a swirling typhoon in the Pacific Ocean taken by NASA astronaut Anil Menon from the cupola of the International Space Station on Aug. 2, 2026. (Image credit: NASA/Anil Menon) NASA astronaut Anil Menon captured an incredible photograph of a swirling typhoon in the Pacific Ocean from the International Space Station on Aug. […]

This image is from ESA’s Mars Express shows part of Mamers Valles, a huge valley system in Mars’ northern hemisphere. (Image credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin) It’s always a treat to be reminded that we have spacecraft orbiting Mars right now, and a new image from one of these Red Planet probes does just that. The European […]

This article was originally published at The Conversation. The publication contributed the article to Space.com’s Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. US President Donald Trump’s position on Greenland has shifted almost daily, from threats to take it by force to assurances he won’t. But one thing remains consistent: his insistence the Arctic island is strategically vital […]

One of Europe’s most valuable wetlands is shrinking — and satellite views suggest it could disappear completely within a single human lifetime. Doñana National Park is a vast wetland system in southwestern Spain that supports one of the continent’s richest ecosystems and plays a critical role in European and African bird migration and breeding. Using […]

A “gravity hole” beneath Antarctica is offering scientists a rare glimpse into Earth’s deep interior, a dynamic record of slow-moving processes that have been reshaping our planet for tens of millions of years. This immense, gentle low in Earth’s gravity field, formally known as the Antarctic Geoid Low, reflects how mass is distributed deep inside […]

A NASA study reveals that Earth is glowing brighter at night overall — but not everywhere, and not in the way scientists expected. A new analysis of nearly a decade of satellite observations from NASA’s Black Marble project has revealed a surprisingly complex picture of how humanity’s activities are reshaping how our planet looks after […]