Earth from Space - Image Description

STS035-502-002 Lake Amadeus, Northern Territory, Australia December 1990
This east-looking oblique view includes a large section of southwest Northern Territory. The distance stretches north-south from the MacDonnell Ranges (darker parallel stripes of mountains--left middle) to the faintly identifiable outline of the Musgrave Ranges near the right edge of the image. The string of lighter colored (appearing whitish-gray) features that extend generally east-west (vertically on the screen) are a series of shallow, dry lakes that include Lake Neale (most westerly) and Lake Amadeus (larger lake towards center of scene). If the viewer knows exactly where to look south of Lake Amadeus, the location of Ayer's Rock and the more extensive Olgas can be established (in the bright orange area just to the right of the lake). These isolated and unique sandstone monoliths are major tourist attractions in this desert region southwest of Alice Springs. This eastward view also enables the viewer to trace the ephemeral lakes that reveal the watercourse that flowed from west to east.

This service is provided by the International Space Station program and the JSC Earth Science & Remote Sensing Unit, ARES Division, Exploration Integration Science Directorate.