NASA Earth

An island on the move! In July 2026, a forested island the size of 2 football fields appeared in Canada’s Williston Reservoir and then vanished. 🏝️

See how scientists used Landsat and Sentinel satellite data to track its 19-mile journey! 🛰️

This summer, @NASA scientists spent six weeks chasing fire clouds. 🔥☁️

Using planes and trucks, the team studied several dangerous, smoke-infused clouds generated by wildfires.

The data will help predict where these clouds may form and improve climate and atmospheric models.

Albedo keeps us cool — literally!

Parts of Earth with high albedo, like sea ice or clouds, reflect sunlight, which helps regulate Earth’s temperature.

NASA can see penguin poop from space. Also, it’s pink. 💩

The exact shade can tell scientists a lot about Adélie penguins and their Antarctic environment. The results come from a study of over 100 penguin sites and about 30 years’ worth of @NASA @USGS Landsat satellite images.

2026 has been a busy season for tropical cyclones in the northeastern and central Pacific basins.

This image from NASA’s EPIC camera on the DSCOVR satellite shows four named storms churning on Sept. 27: Nolo, Odalys, Polo, and Rachel.

Hoa hoa hoa season is here

The brown bears in @KatmaiNPS are some of the chonkiest on Earth but, even so, @NASA satellites still can’t see them from space.

But we can see their home! Satellite images can help determine how healthy the bears’ environment is, which provides clues to how big they may get. 🐻

For the first time in nearly five centuries, Krasheninnikov erupted. 🌋

The @NASA/@isro NISAR satellite captured lava filling its caldera and overflowing into a wider crater, showing how NISAR can repeatedly monitor volcanoes and other natural hazards in sharp detail.

Arctic sea ice reached its yearly minimum extent on Sept. 12, 2026, @NASA and @NSIDC report.

The ice covered 1.78 million square miles, making it the 10th-lowest in the satellite record, tied with 2008, 2010, and 2025. go.nasa.gov/4howoJi

The melting season for Arctic sea ice is about 40 days longer than in 1979. Much of that change happened prior to 2010, when the season length stabilized.

The findings come from a @NASA-led study of satellite observations of Arctic sea ice from 1979-2023. go.nasa.gov/4yKFreB

The second-largest reservoir in the U.S. has dropped to record-low water levels.

These satellite images show Colorado’s Lake Powell in 2017, when water levels were high, and now in 2026, when snow drought and unusually warm temperatures have driven water levels to record lows.

It’s the last week of summer in the Northern Hemisphere, but the season is going out with record-breaking heat. 🥵

A heat dome sent temperatures soaring in the south-central U.S. on Sept. 15, 2026. This map shows air temperatures from satellites and @NASAGoddard’s GEOS model.

If Earth were a hard marble, its center of mass would stay in the middle – but in reality, the center shifts as seasons move water, ice, and air around the planet. NASA scientists developed a new way to track these motions more precisely, helping improve mapping and navigation.

Fall vibes come early in the far north 🍂

The low-growing shrubs in this area reach peak red, orange, and yellow in mid-September, finds a @NASA and @SDState analysis of satellite data.

But blink and you might miss it! Peak color can last a week or less in the far north.

The ocean has a hidden garden of phytoplankton.

You just need to know how to see it, and NASA’s PACE mission has the tools! 🌊🛰️

With PACE, scientists can identify types of phytoplankton in the water, which each play a different role in ocean ecosystems.

How will El Niño affect hurricanes? NASA satellites are helping improve predictions. 🌀

NASA and European Sentinel-6 satellites measure sea level height to track changes in ocean heat and better understand shifts in hurricane patterns. The data can help guide disaster response.

Do you recognize this area? If so, you might be a Star Trek fan! 🖖

This @NASA satellite image shows Vasquez Rocks Natural Area in Southern California. Multiple Star Trek scenes were filmed here, including an iconic battle between Captain James T. Kirk and a reptilian alien.

NASA studies air pollution around the world to better understand what’s in the air and what it can mean for human health. #CleanAirDay

Fires are smoldering in Indonesia, which is in a severe and widespread drought. Some of these are tropical peatland fires, which burn slowly, release higher amounts of air pollution, and are notoriously difficult to extinguish.

Puerto Rico’s wet season usually begins in May, but rainfall has been low this year.

By late August, drought had spread across much of Puerto Rico, contributing to water shortages and rationing in some areas. NASA data is helping scientists track drought conditions.