The Black Sea

Credit: Credit: Jeff Schmaltz; MODIS team; APOD, Posted on: Friday, 7 May 2004, 06:00 CDT Download full size image

The atmosphere is a dynamic place, as is illustrated by clouds over the southwestern Black Sea in this true-color image from May 3, 2004. At the lowest level, thick white clouds are caught in a swirling air current, which causes the clouds to take on this spiral pattern. At a higher altitude, wispy clouds ride air currents moving independently of lower ones. This is especially noticeable on the right side side of the image. Four countries are shown in this image. Starting from the upper left, they are Romania, Bulgaria, Greece (lower left edge), and Turkey. The Bosporus connects the Black Sea and the Marmara Denizi, which is connected to the Aegean Sea via the Dardanelles. Istanbul, the capital of Turkey, sits on the southwestern bank of the Bosporus, while the site of the ancient city of Troy lies near the western opening to the Dardanelles, on the southern side.

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