Big Island of Hawaii
as seen from space
Photo courtesy of NASA
Hawaii, the archipelago’s youngest and largest island, is featured in this low-oblique, north-looking photograph.
Apparent are the three main volcanoes that have created the big island—Mauna Loa [13,679 feet (4169 meters)], the easiest to recognize with its rift zone and dark, rib-like basalt lava flows that radiate outward from the higher elevations; brownish-looking Mauna Kea, slightly taller at 13,796 feet (4205 meters), but lacking the dramatic appearance of Mauna Loa; and Kilauea near the south-eastern coast.
The multiple craters of Kilauea
[4,078 feet (1243 meters)] are not easily discernible in this photograph.
Kilauea and Mauna Loa continue to be two of the world’s most active shield
volcanoes as they periodically add new acreage to the big island.
This photo was taken on the STS-61
(Space Shuttle) mission in November of 1985.
return to Hawaii from Space Photo Gallery
