Cyclones, South Atlantic Ocean

The swirling pattern in the image above is two tangled polar cyclones over the South Atlantic Ocean. Cyclones like these are often created by low-pressure systems over cold, open water. The spot of green in the upper left is water just off the southern tip of Africa.

This image was taken by the MODIS instrument on NASA’s Terra satellite in April  2009.

Image:  Jeff Schmaltz/NASA