The scope of Hurricane Sandy

Bearing down on the U.S. East Coast, Hurricane Sandy is now a Category 1 hurricane, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Various NASA satellites are providing a detailed look at look at Sandy's 2,000-mile extent. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's GOES-13 satellite, which is part of the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite system, captured this image of Earth with the massive Sandy covering a large swath of the eastern US.

Taken on Oct. 28 at 9:02 a.m. ET, the line of clouds heading north from the Georgia coast is also running into a cold front slipping down from the north and west.

An atmospheric pressure drop during the morning of October 28 has signified that the storm is gaining remarkable strength.