image: NASA's Aqua satellite captured an image of fires and smoke occurring in various parts of Western Australia's Gascoyne region. The largest bushfires have been burning since the first of January and have burnt almost one half million hectares (1,931 square miles/5,000 square kilometers) of grazing land and brush. A bushfire southeast of Carnarvon in the Gascoyne region is now threatening cattle stations, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. There were seven different fires that have all merged into one large fire, located about 43.5 miles (70 kilometers) east of Carnarvon. NASA's Aqua satellite picked up heat signatures from fires in Gascoyne on Jan. 21, 2012, at 02:15 UTC (9:15 p.m. EST, Jan. 20) using the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument that flies aboard the satellite. Fires appear in red on this image. Western Australia's Gascoyne region has 373 miles (600 kilometers) of coastline along the Southern Indian Ocean and includes the local government areas of Carnarvon, Exmouth, Shark Bay and Upper Gascoyne. view more
Credit: NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team. Caption: NASA/Goddard, Rob Gutro