Astronaut photo of Arnica fire

Astronaut photograph ISS020-E-43017 was acquired on September 24, 2009, with a Nikon D3 digital camera fitted with an 800 mm lens, and is provided by the ISS Crew Earth Observations experiment and Image Science & Analysis Laboratory, Johnson Space Center. From NASA:

This astronaut photograph [from the International Space Station] documents the Arnica Fire in Yellowstone National Park. The fire was started by a lightning strike near Yellowstone Lake on September 13, 2009. By the time it was detected on September 23, 2009, it covered approximately 2 hectares (4 acres). The fire was photographed by the astronauts on the following day (September 24); by then, it had grown to 101 hectares (250 acres) in size. Warm, dry and windy conditions in the area provided a favorable environment for growth of the fire, and as of October 1, 2009, the fire was estimated to be 3,764 hectares (9,300 acres) in size.

The image is highly oblique, or taken looking outwards at an angle, rather than straight down towards the Earth’s surface. The ISS was approximately above Lake Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada—almost 1,200 kilometers (746 miles) to the northeast of the fire—when this image was taken using a long lens.

via @FireInfoGirl

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