Two NASA satellites are capturing images of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, which began April 20, 2010 with the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig. This short video reveals a space-based view of the burning oil rig and, later, the ensuing oil spill through May 24. The timelapse uses imagery from the MODIS instrument, on board NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites. The oil slick appears grayish-beige in the image and changes due to changing weather, currents, and use of oil dispersing chemicals.

This video can be downloaded in full resolution at: http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/goto?10562

Images in this video times series were selected that show the spill most clearly. The full image archive is available at: http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov

You can learn more about the oil spill by visiting: http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/oilspill

Imagery and information about the oil spill is also available on NASA's Earth Observatory Natural Hazards Web page: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards

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