2005 marks the 20th anniversary of the discovery of the ozone hole (a place in the atmosphere where the protective layer of ozone has worn thin) and the first full year that NASA’s Aura satellite has provided details of the hole. Aura was launched in 2004 to monitor the Earth’s atmosphere and collected the data used to create this image on Sept 11, 2005, when the ozone hole covered 27 million sq. km - its peak for the season. Deep blue shows ozone levels low enough to be considered part of the hole. Near the Earth's surface, ozone is hazardous to humans, but high in the atmosphere, ozone acts as a crucial shield that absorbs harmful ultraviolet radiation from the Sun.