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APOD

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available.

El Niño Water Rhythm

Explanation: This year's El Niño is the strongest ever recorded. The large amount of warm water in the Pacific Ocean near the equator is causing unusual weather all over planet Earth . The above false-color images of Earth show the relative levels of warm water between normal (upper left) and the comparatively mild El Niño of 1995 - 1996 . Red indicates a high water level . Detailed measurements of this years El Niño indicate the warm water level is rising and falling in rhythmic fashion, possibly in response to changing wind patterns.

Date January 13, 1998
Credit Credit: TOPEX/Poseidon Team, CNES, NASA
Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U.