Wildfires light up western Australia
Friday, December 7, 2012 - 18:30
in Astronomy & Space
Careful observers of the new "Black Marble" images of Earth at night released this week by NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have noticed bright areas in the western part of Australia that are largely uninhabited. Why is this area so lit up, many have asked? Away from the cities, much of the night light observed by the NASA-NOAA Suomi NPP satellite in these images comes from wildfires.