![](\"http:\/\/www.esa.int\/var\/esa\/storage\/images\/esa_multimedia\/images\/2013\/11\/proba-2_view_of_pine_island_glacier_iceberg\/13409480-4-eng-GB\/Proba-2_view_of_Pine_Island_Glacier_iceberg_small.jpg\")
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\nThe smallest camera on one of ESA\u2019s smallest satellites caught this image of a giant iceberg \u2013 larger than Singapore \u2013 drifting away from Antarctica\u2019s Pine Island Glacier.\n<\/p>\n
\nThe espresso cup-sized Exploration Camera, X-Cam, on ESA\u2019s Proba-2 satellite took this picture on 19 November, peering eastwards into the Antarctic interior.\n<\/p>\n
\nThe 700 sq km iceberg in open water to the right side of the image, officially known as iceberg B-31, broke away from the Pine Island Glacier on the Antarctic west coast back in July. Such a \u2018calving\u2019 was widely anticipated, with a crack in the ice having formed over several years.\n<\/p>\n
\nThe berg is gradually drifting away from its parent glacier, expected either to move east, parallel to the coast, or head out into the Southern Ocean.\n<\/p>\n
\nProba-2\u2019s X-Cam\u2019s black and white image gives a wider perspective than a standard Earth observation camera, more like an astronaut\u2019s eye view, but it was taken at around double the altitude that human crews currently fly, at more than 700 km.\n<\/p>\n
\nLess than a cubic metre in size, Proba-2<\/a> focuses on observing solar activity and space weather. But it also keeps a small eye on its home world.\n<\/p>\n \nOne of the 17 experimental technologies hosted on Proba-2 is the compact X-Cam<\/a>. Housed on the underside of the satellite, the monochrome X-Cam observes in the visible and infrared with a 100\u00b0 field of view.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \t\t\t\t\t \nThe smallest camera on one of ESA\u2019s smallest satellites caught this image of a giant iceberg \u2013 larger than Singapore \u2013 drifting away from Antarctica\u2019s Pine Island Glacier.\n<\/p>\n \nThe espresso cup-sized Exploration Camera, X-Cam, on ESA\u2019s Proba-2 satellite took this picture on 19 November, peering eastwards into the Antarctic interior.\n<\/p>\n \nThe 700 sq km iceberg in open water to the right side of the image, officially known as iceberg B-31, broke away from the Pine Island Glacier on the Antarctic west coast back in July. Such a \u2018calving\u2019 was widely anticipated, with a crack in the ice having formed over several years.\n<\/p>\n \nThe berg is gradually drifting away from its parent glacier, expected either to move east, parallel to the coast, or head out into the Southern Ocean.\n<\/p>\n \nProba-2\u2019s X-Cam\u2019s black and white image gives a wider perspective than a standard Earth observation camera, more like an astronaut\u2019s eye view, but it was taken at around double the altitude that human crews currently fly, at more than 700 km.\n<\/p>\n \nLess than a cubic metre in size, Proba-2<\/a> focuses on observing solar activity and space weather. But it also keeps a small eye on its home world.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n