Italy

'Snow enhances the contrast and emphasizes the relief of the Alps that tower over northern Italy in this true-color Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) from the Terra satellite on March 25, 2003. Northern Italy hosts many large cities, and industrial activities, and the gray cast to the terrain is both urban development and air pollution, which is a persistent problem in the region. At left in the image are Corsica and Sardinia, both of which sport a bit of snow at higher elevations. Snow is also visible on the slopes of Mt. Etna on the island of Sicily, at bottom center.

On the western coast of Italy, due east of Sardinia, a gray patch along the coast shows the urban development of Naples, with the brown circle of Mt. Vesuvius in its midst. All along the eastern coast of Italy, the waters of the Adriatic Sea are colored blue and green, likely a mixture of sediment from rivers and tidal action and microscopic marine plant life.'

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Southern Italian Peninsula at Night

'This astronaut photograph highlights the nighttime appearance of the southern Italian Peninsula. The toe and heel of Italy’s “boot” are clearly defined by the lights of large cities such as Naples, Bari, and Brindisi, as well as numerous smaller cities and towns. The bordering Adriatic, Tyrrhenian, and Ionian Seas appear as dark regions to the east, west, and south. The city lights of Palermo and Catania, Sicily, are also visible.

The International Space Station (ISS) was located over an area of Romania, close to the capital city of Bucharest (approximately 945 kilometers to the northeast) at the time this image was taken. Part of a solar panel array on a docked Russian spacecraft is visible in the foreground. The distance between the image subject area and the position of the photographer, as well as the viewing angle looking outwards from the ISS, contributes to the foreshortened appearance of the Italian Peninsula and Sicily.'

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Bologna and Cassini

Another incredibly stunning image by Robert Simmon from NASA, this time of Bologna, Italy.

'Jean-Dominique Cassini (born Giovanni Cassini) a leading astronomer, mathematician, and engineer, began his scientific career at the Panzano Observatory in Bologna, Italy, in the middle of the 17th century. The current NASA mission to Saturn was named after Cassini in honor of his observations of the ringed planet.

Located in north-central Italy on the southern edge of the Emilia-Romagna plains and the northern limit of the Apennine Mountains, the city of Bologna has been the site of human settlement for at least 3,000 years. Over this time, a succession of civilizations ruled the city: Villanovians, Etruscans, Galli Boi, Celts, Romans, and Christian Popes. In 1859 the city joined the nation of Italy. The University of Bologna (where Cassini was a professor of mathematics from 1650-68) was founded in 1088.

It was Cassini who discovered the large gap in Saturn’s rings (through which the Cassini spacecraft flew on June 30, 2004, as it entered into orbit) and four of Saturn’s moons: Iapetus, Rhea, Tethy, and Dione. He also correctly theorized that the rings were composed of small particles orbiting Saturn.

Cassini’s other accomplisments in astronomy included measuring the period of rotation in Mars and Jupiter, analyzing the orbits of Jupiter’s moons, and mapping features on the surface of the moon.

This image was acquired on June 20, 2000 by the Enhanced Thematic Mapper plus on board the Landsat 7 satellite.'

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Firenze

An absolutely wonderful view of Florence, Italy from NASA Earth Observatory, by Jesse Allen and Robert Simmon.

'Around the year 59 BC, Julius Caesar established a settlement for his veteran troops in the fertile river valley of the Arno. The same site had likely already been an Etruscan settlement and, by some speculation, occupied since prehistoric times. Although its population waxed and waned, the city persisted and, starting some 14 centuries after its founding, flourished as a center for commerce, art, and science. Credited as the birthplace of the Renaissance, Florence (or Firenze) was the permanent or part-time home of Giotto, Dante, Botticelli, Donatello, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Machiavelli, Vasari, and Galileo. Today, this United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Site holds perhaps the greatest concentration of world-renowned artwork anywhere on Earth.

The Advanced Land Imager (ALI) on NASA’s Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) satellite captured this natural-color image of Florence on July 30, 2010. The west-flowing Arno runs through the middle of the image—and the middle of town. Verdant hills rise from the river valley in both the north and south, covered with a patchwork of fields, orchards, parks, and stands of trees. The vegetation is well watered in the cool, rainy wintertime. Summers are typically hot and humid.

Over the centuries, Florence’s location proved optimal for agriculture and trade. The surrounding landscape was well-suited to raising crops and livestock, and land- and water-based trade routes—the Arno in particular—passed through or near the city. Today, multiple bridges connect the northern and southern halves of Florence across the Arno. Spanning the river at its narrowest point is the Ponte Vecchio (“Old Bridge”). Earlier bridges built at or around the same spot had washed away in floods, but this bridge has lasted since 1345, a centuries-long home to skillful goldsmiths.

Modern structures with big footprints interrupt the sea of red-tile roofs north of the river. Near the center of town, railroad tracks draw parallel lines running north-northwest. West of the tracks and immediately north of the river are racetracks. Near the east of the town sit sports stadiums. Although dwarfed by modern train tracks and racetracks, many of the smaller buildings near the center of town are far more famous. In a plaza north of the river, not far from the Ponte Vecchio, sit the Florence Cathedral (Santa Maria del Fiore) and the Baptistery. The cathedral appears as a cross-shaped building casting a shadow to the north. Its neighbor to the west, the Baptistery, is bright white.

Santa Maria del Fiore towers above the city skyline. The building was started in the thirteenth century but the construction of its dome (known locally as Il Duomo) was not completed until the fifteenth, overseen by the architect Filippo Brunelleschi. With a mean diameter of 143.5 feet (43.7 meters) and a height of 295 feet (90 meters), the dome was the biggest built since Antiquity. By some estimates, the Duomo remains the largest masonry dome today.

Home to Lorenzo Ghiberti’s Gates of Paradise, the Baptistery may be the oldest surviving building in Florence. The belief that the Baptistery originated as a Roman Temple of Mars persisted for centuries. Even though the time of the Baptistery’s construction remains a matter of research and debate, excavations have indicated that the building sits on foundations dating from the first through third centuries AD.'

Image and caption found here.

Milano

A satellite image of Milano, Italia at night from the NASA International Space Station, 22 February 2011

Just got home from a very long but productive day at uni. Right now I feel so blessed with the opportunities I have been given.

Panorama

This stunning panorama of Europe was taken from on board the NASA International Space Station on the 25th of January 2012, from about 386km above the Tyrrhenian Sea. The lights of Italy are especially beautiful, outlining the land in a glittering glow, with bright lights in the cities of Roma and Napoli.