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LiveScience
LiveScience
Harry Baker

Stunning cloud vortices swirl off 6 different Atlantic islands — Earth from space

Earth NASA Madeira Canary Islands Ocean the Canary Islands
Six different sets of "von Kármán vortices" were spotted swirling off islands in the Atlantic Ocean in this 2015 satellite photo. (Image credit: NASA/Terra satellite)
QUICK FACTS

Where is it? Atlantic Ocean

What's in the photo? Streams of von Kármán vortices flowing off multiple islands

Which satellite took the photo? NASA's Terra satellite

When was it taken? May 20, 2015

This striking satellite photo shows multiple examples of a rare meteorological phenomenon, known as "von Kármán vortices," swirling off at least six different islands in the Atlantic Ocean. Very rarely have so many of these swirling cloud trails been seen at once and over such a large area.

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