On Nov. 5, 2015, an iron-ore tailings dam in Bento Rodrigues, a subdistrict of Mariana, Brazil, suffered a catastrophic failure, causing flooding and at least 13 deaths.
Sentinel Shows Dutch Density
Bordered by the North Sea to the north and west, Germany to the east, and Belgium to the south, The Netherlands has a population of 17 million. With more than 400 people per square kilometer, it's one of the most-densely populated countries in the world.
SOHO Celebrates 20 Years in Space
Originally launched in 1995 by the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA to study the sun and its influence out to the edges of the solar system, the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) revolutionized heliophysics, providing the basis for nearly 5,000 scientific papers.
Southern Spring Sees Phytoplankton Blooms
As a reminder that spring is relative depending on Earth's hemisphere, phytoplankton blooms, which were especially troublesome in the northern hemisphere's 2015 spring, have now been spotted via satellite in the southern hemisphere's spring.
Longest Water Bridge Seen from Space
Sentinel-2A, which has been in orbit since June 2105, captured this false-color image of Qingdao, China.
Compilation of Rare Mars Auroras
The European Space Agency's Mars Express satellite has been able to detect ultraviolet auroras on the planet by combining remote observations with in situ measurements of electrons hitting the atmosphere, and a new study looks at 10 years of such observations.
Historic Flooding Hits Death Valley
In October 2015, a system of storms caused significant flooding in most of California's Death Valley National Park. Flash floods from the storm destroyed roads and utilities, and damaged several historical structures.
Persian Gulf Seen at Night from Space Station
Having reached the halfway mark of his latest one-year mission and overall logging a record-breaking time in space approaching 400 days, U.S. astronaut and commander of the current Expedition 45 crew Scott Kelly has been dazzling audiences with beautiful pictures taken from beyond Earth's atmosphere. He recently photographed the Nile River during a nighttime flyover on Sept. 22, 2015.
Satellite Captures Earthquake Displacement in Chile
On Sept. 16, 2015, an 8.3-magnitude earthquake struck the coast of central Chile, triggering tsunami warnings and coastal evacuations. Lasting three minutes, the powerful earthquake occurred along the boundary of the Nazca and South American tectonic plates.
Sentinel Satellite Captures Azore Islands' Beauty
This Sentinel-1A radar image features some of the Azore islands about 1,600 kilometers west of Lisbon, including the turtle-shaped Faial, the dagger-like Sao Jorge and Pico Island, with Mount Pico reaching more than 2,351 meters in height.
