NASA satellite captures Typhoon Dolphin passing over Guam

NASA's MODIS camera recently captured Typhoon Dolphin hovering just north of Guam.

The storm passed across the Northern Marianas on Friday, sustaining winds of 109 miles per hour.

The center of the typhoon passed over the Rota Channel, which is just 25 miles from the northern tip of Guam, close enough for the southern half of the eye wall to rake the northern part of the island with powerful winds. An anemometer at Andersen Air Force Base, located on the northern tip of Guam, recorded a wind gust of 106 miles per hour. Waves near the storm's center topped out at 35 feet.

The color image of the storm was taken by an instrument called the Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer, or MODIS, which is installed on NASA's Aqua satellite. Together, the observatory images the entire globe every one to two days.

The storm was also imaged by NASA's GPM Core observatory, a weather satellite. Instead of revealing real life color, the observatory works to estimate precipitation levels. The image reveals the storm's rain bands -- different colors corresponding to different concentrations of precipitation.

Dolphin is expected to strengthen over the next few days before taking a sharp turn to the northwest toward Japan, at which point it will likely transition into a less-threatening, extra-tropical cyclone.