10 Impressive Satellite Photos

Ancient Lost City of Angkor Wat

This NASA sattelite photo shows the ancient city of Angkor Wat emerging from the Cambodian rain forest. Visible are large structures, roads, moats, water supply and surrounding habitations and farms.


Manhattan just after the 9/11 Attacks

Lower Manhattan, Post 9/11 Attacks (9:15 AM)


Indonesia, Before and After the tsunami
Before
After
The Indonesian province of Aceh was hit hardest by the earthquake and tsunamis of Dec. 26, 2004. Aceh is located on the northern tip of the island of Sumatra.


Three different typhoons at the same time

Three different typhoons were spinning over the western Pacific Ocean on August 7, 2006, when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Aqua satellite acquired this image. It is predicted that Bopha and Saomai would continue on tracks that would take each into China, while Maria would move toward Japan.


Palm Island, a man-made island at Dubai

This satellite image was collected on July 16, 2004. The image shows this man-made island that lies off the coast of Dubai in the Persian Gulf. The island is being built from 80 million cubic meters of land dredged from the approach channel to the Emirate's Jebel Ali Port. When complete, this resort will have approximately 1,200 single-family and 600 multi-family residences, an aquatic theme park, shopping centers, cinemas and more. Photo credit "Space Imaging Middle East".


Cruise Ship Capsized by a typhoon

A satellite photo in Google Earth shows a cruise ship which was capsized by a typhoon back in 2003. See photos and links to the location, and a ground-level photo of the ship shortly after it happened.


Oil spill along Lebanese coast

The Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) on NASA's Terra satellite took this picture of the region on August 8, 2006. In this image, the oil slick appears as a slightly darker shade of blue on the ocean surface, and it is easier to see in the enlarged area around Beirut at lower right.


California fire creates huge smoke plume

Northwest of Los Angeles, the Day Fire was churning out a thick, snake-like plume of smoke on September 17, 2006. The human-caused fire started on September 4 in mixed brush and scattered timber in the Los Padres and Angeles National Forests and the Sespe Wilderness. As of September 18, the 60,589-acre fire was only about 15% contained.


Ash Cloud from active volcano in Peru

Ubinas is an active volcano in Peru. This image from the ISS captures an ash cloud 1 hour & 45 minutes after it was first observed on satellite imagery August 14, 2006. This photo looks like it could be from another planet.


The destruction of Porta Farm (Zimbabwe)
Before(2002)
After(2006)
Human rights group Amnesty International released the first-ever satellite images of the effect of the Zimbabwean government's controversial Operation Murambatsvina, which left 700 000 people homeless last year, according to a United Nations report.