A volcano is an opening, or rupture, in a planet’s surface or crust, which allows hot magma, volcanic ash and gases to escape from the magma chamber below the surface. They are generally found where tectonic plates are diverging or converging. A mid-oceanic ridge, for example the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, has examples of volcanoes caused…
Flooding in Thailand – Before & After Photograph by NASA Earth Observatory In this true-colour satellite image, we see flooding in Ayutthaya and Pathum Thani Provinces in Central Thailand (right), compared to before the flooding (left). The Chao Phraya River forms at the confluence of smaller rivers in central Thailand, and flows…
LIGHTNING-WORKS Photograph by AJ192 on Reddit In this perfectly timed photograph by Redditor AJ192, we see lightning strike at the exact moment a firework lights up the night sky. The photograph was taken at a firework show at the Rio Rancho High School in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, United States. The image…
SAN FRANCISCO FOG Photograph by David Yu In this dreamy capture by photographer David Yu, we see a ‘fog/haze/mist?’ rolling over San Francisco. A beautiful capture of a beautiful city, San Francisco encompasses a land area of about 46.9 square miles (121 km2). It has a density of about 17,620 people per…
THE BAIT BALL Photograph by STEVE DUNLEAVY on Flickr A bait ball, or baitball, occurs when small fish swarm in a tightly packed spherical formation about a common centre. It is a last-ditch defensive measure adopted by small schooling fish when they are threatened by predators. Small schooling fish are eaten by…
On June 23, 2013 at 11:32 UTC the full moon was not only the closest and largest full moon of the year, it will also be the moon’s closest encounter with Earth for all of 2013. It will not be this close again until August 10, 2014. Astronomers call this sort of close full…
Photograph by Mike Olbinski | Prints available After four years of unsuccessful storm chasing, Mike Olbinski finally found what he was looking for. A massive rotating supercell thunderstorm with complex structure and active movement. The result was the epic time-lapse video embedded below. The storm was spotted on June 3, 2013, near Booker, Texas.…
Chris Hadfield is a Canadian astronaut and the first Canadian to walk in space. On December 21, 2012, the former Royal Canadian Air Force fighter pilot became the first Canadian to command the ISS (Expedition 35). Until his departure on May 12, 2013, Hadfield was incredibly active on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, raising awareness…
DARK BLUE BOTTOM OF AN ICEBERG Photograph by Aoraki Mount Cook Alpine Village In this photograph by Aoraki Mount Cook Alpine Village, we see the dark blue bottom of an iceberg in the terminal lake of New Zealand’s largest glacier, the Tasman Glacier. According to dr_glaciology, the ice is so blue because…
FLYBY ECLIPSE Photograph by PHILLIP CALAIS In this perfectly timed capture by Phillip Calais, we see an airplane flying by a partial solar eclipse. Selected as NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day for May 13, Calais remarked: “It was just eight minutes after sunrise, last week, and already there were four things…