Satellite Snaps Brilliant Figure 8 Algae Bloom Space Wallpaper

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Algae Bloom Satelitte figure 8 1920
An algae bloom in the shape of a figure 8 in the south Atlantic Ocean. (Image credit: ESA)

This cool space wallpaper shows microscopic algae create a bright blue figure 8 in a new photo snapped by a European Earth-observing satellite. Photosynthesizing micro-organisms called phytoplankton created the figure 8 in the south Atlantic Ocean, about 360 miles (600 kilometers) east of the Falkland Islands. The European Space Agency's Envisat spacecraft acquired the image on Dec. 2, 2011.

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