Chatham Islands, east of New Zealand

Located 800 kilometers east of Christchurch, New Zealand, the Chatham Islands are the ancestral home of the Moriori people. The island group consists of ten small islands, though only the largest two, seen here, are populated. These islands, Chatham (top) and Pitt (bottom), have the distinction of being the first inhabited land to see the sun rise every day. This Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) image of the islands was acquired by the Aqua satellite on April 19, 2004. The dark area on the top right and center of Chatham is the Te Whanga Lagoon.

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Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA/GSFC

Published April 22, 2004
Data acquired April 19, 2004

Source:

Aqua > MODIS