Time-Lapse Satellite View of Growing Oil Spill

By Nancy Atkinson - May 27, 2010 at 5:45 AM UTC | Planetary Science

We've featured many aerial satellite images of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, here on

Universe Today

, but this time-lapse video puts them all together. The video reveals a space-based view beginning on April 12 before the accident, then after the April 20 explosion, with the burning oil rig. Later, the ensuing oil spill is captured through May 24. Two NASA satellites are constantly capturing images Earth, focusing on particular areas of interest, the Terra and Aqua satellites which both have the MODIS instrument (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer.) The oil slick appears grayish-beige in the image and changes due to changing weather, currents, and use of oil dispersing chemicals.

The latest word on the "top kill" effort to stop the gushing oil well is that it has seen initial success.

Yesterday, BP began pumping heavy mud into the leaking well, and currently, no oil is seen coming from the well, only the mud. According to MSNBC, engineers will not know until at least Thursday afternoon whether this attempt to stop the leak is having some success.

If the risky procedure stops the flow, BP would then inject cement into the well to seal it. The top kill has worked above ground but has never before been tried 5,000 feet beneath the sea. BP pegged its chance of success at 60 to 70 percent.

You can watch a live video feed of the underwater well

at MSNBC.

The images in the time-lapse video times series were selected that show the spill most clearly. The full image archive is available at the

MODIS Rapid Response webpage.

NASA also has a

webpage with more information about the oil spill

NASA's Earth Observatory Natural Hazards Web page

has a gallery of the images, and more information, too.

Other links:

The Boston Globe's Big Picture

has some images of the devastation from the oil reaching the Louisiana coast.

And this oil leak is now the worst in history (ABC News).

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com