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  Image: Geographic Location Direction Photo #: ISS036-E-5647 Date: May 2013
Geographic Region: VANUATU
Feature: SANTA MARIA ISLAND, GAUA VOLCANO, ERUPTION PLUME, PACIFIC OCEAN

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  View Low-Resolution Image  
  Steam Plume at Gaua Volcano, Vanuatu

The approximately 20 kilometer in diameter Gaua Island, also known as Santa Maria Island, is the exposed upper cone and summit of an approximately 3000 meter high and 40 kilometers in diameter stratovolcano, most of which is submerged beneath the Pacific Ocean. The island is part of the Vanuatu Archipelago, a group of volcanic islands in the Southern Pacific Ocean governed by the Republic of Vanuatu. The most recently reported eruption activity (according to the Smithsonian Institution Global Volcanism Program) consisted of a steam plume that was observed on April 29, 2013. This astronaut photograph records subsequent steam emissions observed from the International Space Station on May 31, 2013.

The steam plume extends east-southeast from its likely source at Mount Gharat (also spelled Garat or Garet), a historically active cinder cone located along the southwest flank of a 6 x 9 kilometer collapsed summit caldera. Gaua is one of several volcanoes actively monitored by the Vanuatu Geohazards Observatory. The dark blue-green waters of Lake Letas, formed within the caldera, are visible at image center. The majority of Santa Maria Island is covered in green vegetation, with areas directly west and south of Mount Gharat covered with grey ash deposits. Patchy cloud cover is visible to the west and south of the island, but is easily distinguished from the steam plume by its linear nature and brighter tone.
 
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Images: All Available Images Low-Resolution 168k
Mission: ISS036  
Roll - Frame: E - 5647
Geographical Name: VANUATU  
Features: SANTA MARIA ISLAND, GAUA VOLCANO, ERUPTION PLUME, PACIFIC OCEAN  
Center Lat x Lon: 14.3S x 167.5E
Film Exposure:   N=Normal exposure, U=Under exposed, O=Over exposed, F=out of Focus
Percentage of Cloud Cover-CLDP: 10
 
Camera: N5
 
Camera Tilt: 33   LO=Low Oblique, HO=High Oblique, NV=Near Vertical
Camera Focal Length: 400  
 
Nadir to Photo Center Direction: N   The direction from the nadir to the center point, N=North, S=South, E=East, W=West
Stereo?:   Y=Yes there is an adjacent picture of the same area, N=No there isn't
Orbit Number:  
 
Date: 20130531   YYYYMMDD
Time: 214337   GMT HHMMSS
Nadir Lat: 16.8S  
Latitude of suborbital point of spacecraft
Nadir Lon: 167.4E  
Longitude of suborbital point of spacecraft
Sun Azimuth: 51   Clockwise angle in degrees from north to the sun measured at the nadir point
Space Craft Altitude: 229   nautical miles
Sun Elevation: 30   Angle in degrees between the horizon and the sun, measured at the nadir point
Land Views: CALDERA, ISLAND, VOLCANO  
Water Views: LAKE  
Atmosphere Views: PLUME  
Man Made Views:  
City Views:  
Photo is not associated with any sequences


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