US-India NISAR satellite captures a ‘hummingbird’ in Antarctica. What it reveals
NASA and ISRO's NISAR satellite has captured radar imagery of Antarctica that features a unique formation nicknamed 'the hummingbird'. Scientists explain that the image is an optical illusion created by the interaction of radar waves with ice and mountain surfaces.
Why it matters
It demonstrates the advanced imaging capabilities of the NISAR satellite partnership, which is crucial for monitoring environmental changes in remote polar regions.
New Delhi: The NASA-ISRO synthetic Aperture Radar, or NISAR — India’s satellite partnership with the US — has captured an image of what looks like a giant hummingbird in Antarctica.
A NASA report said that this formation, nicknamed ‘the hummingbird’, was an illusion resulting from a combination of mountain, ice, and radar technology.
“An early image revealed the fractured, barren surface of an Antarctic landscape in stark detail. In a merging of science and serendipity, it also resembles something else entirely: a hummingbird,” said the report.
The images were generated by NISAR’s L-band instruments, which confirm the satellite’s capability to produce detailed imagery that is both informative and eye-catching.
The US space agency said that the colours in these images show differences in the way polarised microwave signals, which vibrate in different directions, interact with and reflect from the ice.
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