Burj Al Arab, Dubai, UAE

Satellite image courtesy of GeoEye

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The Burj Al Arab (Arabic: برج العرب‎,Tower of the Arabs) is a luxury hotel located in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. At 321 m (1,050 ft), it is the second tallest building in the world used exclusively as a hotel. The Burj Al Arab stands on an artificial island 280 m (920 ft) out from Jumeirah beach, and is connected to the mainland by a private curving bridge. It is an iconic structure, designed to symbolize Dubai's urban transformation and to mimic the sail of a boat.

Links:

• Wikipedia - Burj Al Arab
• Burj Al Arab - Official website
• Panoramio / Dubai

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Bourtange, Netherlands

Satellite image courtesy of GeoEye

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Bourtange is a star fort and village in the Westerwolde region of the Dutch province of Groningen. It is a part of the municipality of Vlagtwedde, and lies about 32 km northeast of Emmen.

Links:

• Wikipedia - Bourtange
• Bourtange - Official site

Location:

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Meandering wadis, Jordan

Credit: USGS EROS Data Center Satellite Systems Branch as part of the Earth as Art II image series

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Meandering wadis combine to form dense, branching networks across the stark, arid landscape of southeastern Jordan. The Arabic word “wadi” means a gulley or streambed that typically remains dry except after drenching, seasonal rains.

This scene was acquired by the ASTER instrument on NASA's Terra satellite on May 17, 2001.

Links: 

• Wikipedia - Jordan
• Wikipedia - Wadi

Location:

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Dark Clouds of the Carina Nebula

Credit: NASA, ESA, N. Smith (U. California, Berkeley) et al., and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)

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What dark forms lurk in the mists of the Carina Nebula? These ominous figures are actually molecular clouds, knots of molecular gas and dust so thick they have become opaque. In comparison, however, these clouds are typically much less dense than Earth's atmosphere.

This image, released for Hubble's 17th anniversary, shows a region of star birth and death in the Carina Nebula. The nebula contains at least a dozen brilliant stars that are 50 to 100 times the mass of our Sun, and the massive, unstable star Eta Carinae. The entire Carina Nebula spans more than 300 light years and lies about 7,500 light-years away in the constellation of Carina.

NGC 3372, known as the Great Nebula in Carina, is home to massive stars and changing nebula. Eta Carinae, the most energetic star in the nebula, was one of the brightest stars in the sky in the 1830s, but then faded dramatically. Wide-field annotated and zoomable versions of the larger image composite are also available.

Links:

• Wikipedia - Carina Nebula
• SEDS: The Eta Carinae Nebula

Von Karman vortices, Kuril Islands, Russia

Credit: Image provided by the USGS EROS Data Center Satellite Systems Branch

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These Von Karman vortices formed over the islands of Broutona, Chirpoy, and Brat Chirpoyev (“Chirpoy’s Brother”), all part of the Kuril Islands chain between Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula and Japan.

This image was acquired by the Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper plus (ETM+) sensor on May 6, 2000. This is a false-color composite image made using infrared, near-infrared, and red wavelengths. The image has also been sharpened using the sensor’s panchromatic band.

Links:

• Wikipedia - Karman vortex street
• Wikipedia - Sea of Okhotsk
• Wikipedia - Kuril islands
• Wikipedia - Chirpoy and Brat Chirpoyev
• Wikipedia - Broutona

Location:

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Alluvial Fan, Southern Iran

Credit: Jesse Allen, using data from NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and the U.S./Japan

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Seasonally dry salt lakes and the traces of ephemeral streams occupy many of the valleys of the Zagros Mountains in southern Iran. Much of the time, the rivers and lakes are dry above ground, but subterranean water flows along the same pathways. Where these subterranean streams flow out of the mountains, the water table comes closer to the surface, and it is more readily accessible through wells.

This simulated natural-color image of southeastern Fars province in southern Iran shows a dry river channel carving through arid mountains toward the northeast. The dry river spreads out across the valley floor in a silvery fan. A broad belt of lush agricultural land follows the curve of the fan and stretches out along a road that runs parallel to the ridgeline. The valley-ward margin of the intensely green agricultural belt fades to dull green along streams (or irrigation canals). The image covers an area of 24.4 x 26.8 km and is located at 28.9 degrees north latitude, 54.9 degrees east longitude. It was captured by the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) on NASA’s Terra satellite on October 12, 2004.

Links:

• Wikipedia - Alluvial Fan

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Lake Carnegie, Australia

Credit: Image provided by the USGS EROS Data Center Satellite Systems Branch.

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Ephemeral Lake Carnegie, in Western Australia, fills with water only during periods of significant rainfall. In dry years, it is reduced to a muddy marsh.

This image was acquired by Landsat 7's Enhanced Thematic Mapper plus (ETM+) sensor on May 19, 1999. This is a false-color composite image made using shortwave infrared, infrared, and red wavelengths. The image has also been sharpened using the sensor's panchromatic band.

Location:

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