Ever wonder what a volcano looks like through the eye of a satellite? Now
you know. This image of the now-active Popocatepetl Volcano in Mexico was
taken by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's GOES 8
satellite March 12. Typically used to take pictures of weather features
like hurricanes, tropical storms and more mundane everyday weather events,
the GOES 8 satellite can also be used to help scientists understand such
things as volcanoes and how the ash and smoke they produce is dispersed in
the atmosphere. The image is in black and white because smoke is often
easier to see in those tones.
Image provided courtesy of the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies at the Space Science and Engineering Center of the
University of Wisconsin-Madison. A special thanks to Terri Gregory for
alerting us to this cool picture.
