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Data acquired January 6, 2009 720 x 480 JPEG
Data acquired January 6, 2009 1440 x 960 510 KB - JPEG
Data acquired January 6, 2009 JPEG
The ring shape is the result of coral reefs building up around a former volcanic island in the South Pacific.
Astronaut photograph ISS018-E-18129 was acquired on January 6, 2009, with a Nikon D2Xs digital camera fitted with an 800 mm lens, and is provided by the ISS Crew Earth Observations experiment and the Image Science & Analysis Laboratory, Johnson Space Center. The image was taken by the Expedition 18 crew. The image in this article has been cropped and enhanced to improve contrast. Lens artifacts have been removed. The International Space Station Program supports the laboratory to help astronauts take pictures of Earth that will be of the greatest value to scientists and the public, and to make those images freely available on the Internet. Additional images taken by astronauts and cosmonauts can be viewed at the NASA/JSC Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth. Caption William L. Stefanov, NASA-JSC.
Published April 6, 2009 Data acquired January 6, 2009