PIX4672384: Condensation trains seen from ISS. - Contrails over Rhone valley seen from ISS. - Condensation trains caused by air traffic. Upstairs, Leman Lake. Image obtained from the International Space Station on May 15, 2002. This digital photograph taken through the windows of the International Space Station on May 15, 2002, shows condensation trails over the Rhone Valley. Condensation trails - - or contrails - - are straight lines of ice crystals that form in the wake of jet liners where air temperatures at altitude are lower than about - 40* C. Newer contrails are thin whereas older trails have widened with time as a result of light winds. Because of this tendency for thin contrails to cover greater areas with time, it is estimated that these artificial clouds”” cover 0.1% of the planet's surface. Percentages are far higher in some places such as southern California, the Ohio River Valley and parts of Europe, as illustrated here. / Bridgeman Images
PIX4672430: Glacier Malaspina, Alaska - The Malaspina Glacier in Alaska - Le Glacier Malaspina, Alaska, from perspective. This image is the result of joint observations made by the Landsat-7 satellite in August 2000 in visible and infrared, combined with elevation radar data obtained by the SRTM (Shuttle Radar Topography Mission) in February 2000. This glacier extends over 3000 km2. Natural colours have been applied to this image: light blue, ice, white, snow, green vegetation, grey rock and blue for the ocean. Malaspina Glacier in southeastern Alaska is considered the classic example of a piedmont glacier. Piedmont glaciers occur where valley glaciers exit a mountain range onto broad lowlands, are no longer laterally confined, and spread to become wide lobes. Malaspina Glacier is actually a compound glacier, formed by the merger of several valley glaciers, the most prominent of which seen here are Agassiz Glacier (left) and Seward Glacier (right). In total, Malaspina Glacier is up to 65 kilometers (40 miles) wide and extends up to 45 kilometers (28 miles) from the mountain front nearly to the sea. This perspective view was created from a Landsat satellite image and an elevation model generated by the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM). Landsat views both visible and infrared light, which have been combined here into a color composite that generally shows glacial ice in light blue, snow in white, vegetation in green, bare rock in grays and tans, and the ocean (foreground) in dark blue. The back (northern) edge of the data set forms a false horizon that meets a false sky. Glaciers are sensitive indicators of climatic change / Bridgeman Images
PIX4672493: Hubbard Glacier - Alaska - Wide view of Hubbard Glacier - Alaska - The Hubbard Glacier is the longest glacier in North America leading to the sea. Hubbard Glacier, the largest tidewater glacier in the world. The Hubbard and Turner/Haenke Glaciers extend out into Disenchantment Bay (discovered and named by Captain Alejandro Malaspina in 1791, who was disappointed to find the inlet was a dead end). The face of Hubbard Glacier extends 6 1/2 miles in length. The towering ice peaks making up the face of the glacier are 400 to 500 feet high! To give some perspective the Wrangell - St. Elias mountain peaks in the background are all between 14,000 and 18,000 feet in elevation, the tallest coastal mountains in the world / Bridgeman Images
PIX4673059: Florida seen by shuttle Atlantis 08/1992 - The Florida peninsula 08/1992 - Florida seen by space shuttle Atlantis in August 1992. The Florida peninsula, the western Bahamas, north central Cuba and the deep blue waters of the Gulf Stream that hugs the east coast of Florida seen from the space shuttle Atantis / Bridgeman Images
PIX4673136: Chicago night view - Chicago at Night - Chicago night view from International Space Station (ISS) July 31, 2003. The population of the city of Chicago, Illinois, is roughly 3 million people, but metropolitan Chicago includes nearly 10 million. Image taken from the International Space Station (ISS) on July 31, 2003 / Bridgeman Images
PIX4673159: Louisiana and Texas night views - Louisiana and Texas at Night - New Orleans (top of the picture), Houston and Dallas night views from the International Space Station (ISS) on October 29, 2010. From 220 miles above Earth, one of the Expedition 25 crew members onboard the International Space Station shot this night time image of the northern Gulf coast on October 29, 2010. Mobile Bay and the city of Mobile (top left, beneath one of the solar panels of a docked Russian Soyuz spacecraft), New Orleans and Houston are visible as the view “” moves””” southeastward. The Interstate Highway 20 cities of Jackson, Shreveport, Dallas and Fort Worth are also visible further inland. The view extends northward (left) to Little Rock and Oklahoma City / Bridgeman Images
PIX4673330: Las Vegas night view - 11/2010 - Las Vegas, Nevada Metropolitan Area at Night - 11/2010 - Las Vegas metropolis night view from the International Space Station (ISS) on November 30, 2010. This image features the Las Vegas, Nevada metropolitan area, located near the southern tip of the state within the Mohave Desert of the southwestern USA. While the city of Las Vegas proper is famous for its casinos and resort hotels, the metropolitan area includes several other incorporated cities and unincorporated (not part of a state - recognized municipality) areas. Astronauts on board the International Space Station observe and photograph numerous metropolitan areas when they are illuminated by sunlight, but the extent and pattern of these areas is perhaps best revealed by the city lights at night. The surrounding dark desert presents a stark contrast to the brightly lit, regular street grid of the developed metropolitan area. The Vegas Strip (image center) is reputed to be the brightest spot on Earth due to the concentration of lights associated with its hotels and casinos. The tarmac of McCarran International Airport to the south is a dark feature by comparison. The airstrips of Nellis Air Force Base on the northeastern fringe of the metropolitan area are likewise dark compared to the well - lit adjacent streets and neighborhoods. The dark mass of Frenchman Mountain borders the metropolitan area to the east. Acquisition of focused night time images such as this one require astronauts to track the target with the handheld camera while the ISS is moving at a speed of more than 7 kilometers per second (15,659 miles per hour) relative to the Earth's surface. This was achieved during ISS Expedition 6 using a homemade tracking device, but subsequent crews have needed to develop manual tracking skills. These skills, together with advances in digital camera technology, have enabled recent ISS crews to acquire striking night time images of the Earth / Bridgeman Images
PIX4673366: New York view from space - New York City seen from space - New York, with Manhattan Island in the center of the image, seen by Terra satellite on 8 September 2002. This image taken by satellite Terra shows New York City and the Island of Manhattan, bordered by the Hudson and East Rivers. Parts of Long Island and Staten Island are also visible. Two of New York's major airports (Newark and La Guardia) are within the image. In the middle of Manhattan, Central Park appears as a long green rectangle with a large lake in the middle. The image covers an area of 27 x 37 km, and was acquired September 8, 2002, and is located at 40.7 degrees north latitude and 74 degrees west longitude / Bridgeman Images
PIX4673370: Manhattan Island, New York, view from space - 12/09/2001 - Smoke plume from Manhattan, New York City - 12/09/2001 - The smoke plume escaping from Manhattan Island to New York seen by the Landsat satellite - 7 on 12 September 2001. Landsat Satellite - 7 image of New York City taken on September 12th, 2001 / Bridgeman Images
PIX4672854: San Francisco Bay area view from space - San Francisco Bay area seen from space - San Francisco Bay area seen from space on April 21, 2002 from the International Space Station. Astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) photographed the San Francisco Bay area on April 21, 2002. The gray urban footprint of San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose, and their surrounding suburbs contrast strongly with the green hillsides. Of particular note are the Pacific Ocean water patterns that are highlighted in the sun glint. Sets of internal waves traveling east impinge on the coastline south of San Francisco. At the same time, fresher bay water flows out from the bay beneath the Golden Gate Bridge, creating a large plume traveling westward. Tidal current channels suggest the tidal flow deep in the bay / Bridgeman Images
PIX4672957: James Bay and Harricana River in winter - Canada - Ice - covered Hannah Bay - Canada - South James Bay with Harricana River in the south, seen in winter, February 12, 2000, from Space Shuttle Endeavour. St James Bay, Ontario, Shorelines. Numerous shorelines around Hudson and St. James Bays are distinctive in winter because of snow cover. The area shown in this Shuttle image taken on 12 February 2000 is located in Hannah Bay, in the southern part of St. James Bay. The river is the Harricanaw River (Harricana river). Shorelines along the bay were created when the overlying glaciers retreated and the land underneath rebounded causing the Hudson/St James Bay waters to retreat northward. These ridges are 100 to 200 m in width and heights can reach up to 7 m. The land along St. James Bay consists mainly of tidal flats and salt marshes / Bridgeman Images
PIX4673232: Earth from space: Baja California, Mexico - Baja California seen from space - Cloudy front on the Pacific Ocean and Baja California. Image obtained from shuttle Atlantis in May 2009. Clouds above Pacific ocean and Baja California seen from the space shuttle Atlantis in May 2009 / Bridgeman Images
PIX4673273: Earth seen from space: California and Mexico - Dust storm in Baja California seen from space - Dust Tempete on Baja California. Image obtained by Aqua satellite on 27 November 2011. Dust clouds blowing out of Mexico across an otherwise cloud - free view of Baja California. Late November 2011 offered mostly cloud - free skies and a compelling view of the entire length of Baja California and the Pacific coast of Mexico. In the midst of the clarity, strong northeasterly winds stirred up dust storms on the mainland and the peninsula. The natural - color images required to make this oblique view were acquired on November 27, 2011, by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Aqua satellite / Bridgeman Images