Earth from Space - Image Description

STS079-834-006 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia September 1996
The areal extent of Australia's largest city, Sydney that is located along the southeast coast of the continent with a population of almost 4 million people, can be discerned by the lighter-colored landscape. The darker terrain south of the sprawling urban area shows Heathcote and Royal National Parks, while the darker area north (lower left) of Sydney is Kur-ing-gai Chase National Park. Sydney is noted as a city of green areas, famous waterfront and harbor area, great beaches, and friendly citizens. The extensive, serpentine-shaped water feature (upper left quadrant) is Sydney Harbor. The other large bay (top center) is Botany Bay where the twin runways (linear, light-colored features) of Sydney International Airport jut southward into Botany Bay. The other dark-colored water feature is Prospect Reservoir (slightly below center).

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