Seven heat sources burned through the night near Makhmur, Iraq — one on 29 of 30 nights
Flare field near Makhmur, Nineveh (Iraq) — 33 registered sites · seen · published
Night-time satellite sensors (VIIRS on NOAA-20 and NOAA-21) picked up 7 clusters of heat near Makhmur, Nineveh, each bright enough to clear a 5 MW threshold and each lit on at least 5 of the 30 nights from 29 August to 27 September 2026. The steadiest cluster was lit on 29 of those nights and peaked at 87.27 MW. Across the window there were 762 hot-night detections. All 7 clusters fall on sites already listed in the 2024 VIIRS Nightfire annual flare summary, the closest just 0.11 km away, with a top site reported at 0.486 billion cubic metres — an independent provider signal that these are known flare locations.
What this is not: heat alone cannot distinguish a gas flare from a furnace, refinery unit or kiln, and the VNF match is an annual record from a past year — it shows the site is a known flare, not what burned this month. Nothing here identifies an operator or owner. Cold venting and unlit methane are invisible to thermal sensors. Cloud or smoke can hide nights and make a steady flare look intermittent.
Written by AI, then checked by a separate reviewer before publication. Every claim points at the evidence below.
35.97°N 43.83°ENASA Blue Marble via GIBS · outline = finding area
What we saw
NASA fire detections — 7 night-time cluster(s) with FRP ≥ 5 MW lit on ≥ 5 of 30 nights (2026-08-29…2026-09-27); top cluster 29 nights, max 87.27 MW at 35.6853, 43.8756. (Sep 26, 2026)See the source ↗
Gas-flare detections (VIIRS Nightfire) — 7 persistent cluster(s) coincide with sites in the VNF 2024 annual flare summary (top site 0.486 BCM, 0.11 km away). Credit: Earth Observation Group, Payne Institute for Public Policy, Colorado School of Mines — VIIRS Nightfire global flare summary. (Dec 31, 2024)See the source ↗
What it might not be
Thermal signal alone cannot separate a flare from a furnace, refinery heater or kiln; persistence plus the VNF site match is the argument, not proof.
FRP is not volume — the VIIRS I-band saturates on the largest flares and the 87.27 MW figure is a single-pixel estimate.
The 0.486 BCM confirmation is a 2024 annual aggregate; it establishes a known flare site, not this month's output.
Only two satellite passes per night (~01:30 local); short or intermittent burning between passes is missed.
Cloudy or smoky nights are not observed, so night counts are a floor, not a ceiling.
No operator or ownership attribution — a cluster is a place, not a company.
Unlit venting and cold methane releases would not appear at all; pairing with S5P or EMIT methane would be needed.
Cannot tell a gas flare from an industrial furnace, refinery, steel or cement kiln, or a volcano — only persistence and the VNF site match argue 'flare'.
Cloud and heavy smoke hide nights; a cloudy month under-counts persistence and can look like a flare was turned off.
FRP is not flared volume: the VIIRS I-band saturates on the largest flares and the FIRMS FRP is a single-pixel estimate — volumes come only from the VNF annual summary.
Venting and unlit (cold) methane releases are invisible to thermal sensors — pair with S5P / EMIT methane.
No ownership or operator attribution: a cluster is a place, not a company; attribution needs asset registries (GEM, GGFR) and human review.
Two VIIRS passes per night at ~01:30 local; short or intermittent flaring between passes is missed. S-NPP ends Nov 2026, so NOAA-20/21 only.
The VNF confirmation is an annual aggregate from a past year: it proves the site is a known flare, not that it flared this week.
'New flaring' only means no site of the VNF 2023/2024 annual summaries within 2 km: a flare too small or too cloudy for EOG's annual product, or a new furnace, also qualifies.
What would change our mind
Newer satellite images that show no change, a correction from the data source, or a reply with evidence from the ground. If that happens, the case is marked “Turned out wrong” — in public — and it stays on this site.
Why this was published
Two separate sources agreed — NASA fire detections, then Gas-flare detections (VIIRS Nightfire) — and a reviewer checked the evidence before it went up.
Right of reply
If a case names or affects you, you can reply. A reply channel that keeps both sides on record is being set up; until then, every case page carries its ledger id so a reply can be attached to it.
7 persistent cluster(s) coincide with sites in the VNF 2024 annual flare summary (top site 0.486 BCM, 0.11 km away). Credit: Earth Observation Group, Payne Institute for Public Policy, Colorado School of Mines — VIIRS Nightfire global flare summary.