NASA ISS Image: Western Europe at Night

With hardware from the Earth-orbiting International Space Station appearing in the near foreground, a night time European panorama reveals city lights from Belgium and the Netherlands at bottom center.

The British Isles partially obscured by solar array panels at left, the North Sea at left center, and Scandinavia at right center beneath the end effector of the Space Station Remote Manipulator System or Canadarm2.

The image was taken by the station crew on Jan. 22, 2012.

Image Credit: NASA

ESA Observing the Earth from Space: Plankton Bloom arrives in Scandinavia

ESA - Observing the Earth - Earth from Space: Plankton arrives in Scandinavia

Envisat captures a crescent-shaped string of plankton in the North Sea weaving through the Scandinavian region.

Norway (left) and Sweden (right), part of the Scandinavian Peninsula, are visible at the top, and Denmark is at bottom right.

The emerald green lake seen in Sweden is Vänern, the country’s largest.

The green water around Denmark is due to sediments being transported in the water. Also visible (image centre) is Norway’s second largest fjord, Hardangerfjord. Envisat's MERIS acquired this image on 3 May 2010 at a resolution of 300 m.

Credits: ESA