Image of the week: Iceberg A23a

Watching our Earth from space

This week’s image of the week is of the world’s largest iceberg A23a, near to the island of South Georgia in the Southern Ocean.

Last Updated

29 January 2025

Published on

29 January 2025

The image was captured by one of the Copernicus Sentinel-3 satellites on 28 January 2025.

The A23a iceberg originally broke off from the Filchner-Ronne ice shelf in West Antarctica in 1986 and was then stuck on the floor of the Antarctic Ocean for over 30 years, until it recently started to move northwards.

Researchers are now closely monitoring the iceberg because of concerns that it may collide with South Georgia, where it could threaten the delicate coastal ecosystem and block access to feeding grounds for seals and penguins.

According to the US National Ice Center, the iceberg covers an area of over 3500 square kilometres and is currently the biggest iceberg in the world.

Iceberg image

This image was captured by the OLCI instrument on one of the Copernicus Sentinel-3 satellites on 28 January 2025.

EUMETSAT operates the Copernicus Sentinel-3 satellites, in cooperation with ESA, and delivers the marine data on behalf of the European Union.

More info

Visualise Sentinel-3 data on EUMETView or WEkEO

The iceberg can also be seen from Meteosat-12 on EUMETView (updated every ten minutes)

Meteosat weather satellites and Earth view livestream

US Antarctic iceberg data

Download image

Previous image of the week

Image of the week: Cyclone Sean

Cyclone Sean was the second tropical cyclone of Australia’s 2024-2025 cyclone season (November-April).

Image of the week: Los Angeles wildfires

This week’s image is of the devastating wildfires that have recently affected Los Angeles.

Image of the week: Typhoon Man-yi

Typhoon Man-yi passed over the Philippines bringing heavy rain, strong winds (up to 185 kmh) and tidal surges.

View all