Return to Earth From Space Home
Earth from Space logo Image Information Earth from Space logo

Display a Screen Layout for Printing

IMAGE: gray corner       IMAGE: gray corner
  Image: Geographic Location Direction Photo #: ISS047-E-131778 Date: May 2016
Geographic Region: ARGENTINA
Feature: IGUAZU R., IGUAZU FALLS, ROADS, HOTELS

Ordering information for space photography
 
IMAGE: gray corner     IMAGE: gray corner

Image: gray corner     Image: gray corner
  View Low-Resolution Image  
  Iguazu Falls, Argentina and Brazil

A crew member aboard the International Space Station pushed the camera system to the limit - using a 1200 mm lens setting instead of the more usual 1150 mm setting - to focus on the famous Iguazu Falls. The falls are the second tourist attraction in all of South America (after Machu Picchu), drawing more than one million visitors in 2010. Hotel establishments are located near the falls (at image left) on both the Argentine and Brazilian banks of the river (the international boundary).


The wide Iguazu River makes a sharp bend before plunging over the falls, which appear as the brightest white patches in the image (lower center). The falls are 60 to 90 m high (200-260 feet), stretching 2.7 km (1.7 mi), but interrupted by numerous islands and, in places, by one or two steps. Wooden walkways lead visitors to every part of the falls, the longest walkway leads from the Argentine side (at image bottom) for 1 km (0.6 mi), crosses a wide expanse of the river, to reach the lip of the most dramatic sector of the falls, known as the Devil's Throat (Garganta del Diablo in Spanish)(at image lower center). Here the falls shoot a huge plume of spray so high into the air that it can be seen by astronauts. The early morning sun casts the plume's shadow onto the river.


The falls are formed by hard layers of lava rock. River water and its sediment that pour over the falls are slowly eroding the falls backward (upstream). In this process, the wide sector of the river, as seen in most of the image, becomes a narrow gorge below the falls. The gorge is deep enough to cast its own shadow (image left). The intense green of the surrounding subtropical forests are protected in national parks established by Argentina and Brazil, and now declared World Heritage Sites by UNESCO in 1984.


The sunglint reflection off the Iguazu River in this 2010 image emphasizes the distinction between the wide upper course above the falls and the narrow gorge sector below them (ISS022-E-91097]


 
Image: gray corner     Image: gray corner

Images: All Available Images Low-Resolution 103k
Mission: ISS047  
Roll - Frame: E - 131778
Geographical Name: ARGENTINA  
Features: IGUAZU R., IGUAZU FALLS, ROADS, HOTELS  
Center Lat x Lon: 25.7S x 54.4W
Film Exposure:   N=Normal exposure, U=Under exposed, O=Over exposed, F=out of Focus
Percentage of Cloud Cover-CLDP: 10
 
Camera: N6
 
Camera Tilt: 33   LO=Low Oblique, HO=High Oblique, NV=Near Vertical
Camera Focal Length: 1200  
 
Nadir to Photo Center Direction: W   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: 20160524   YYYYMMDD
Time: 123316   GMT HHMMSS
Nadir Lat: 26.1S  
Latitude of suborbital point of spacecraft
Nadir Lon: 52.1W  
Longitude of suborbital point of spacecraft
Sun Azimuth: 46   Clockwise angle in degrees from north to the sun measured at the nadir point
Space Craft Altitude: 219   nautical miles
Sun Elevation: 27   Angle in degrees between the horizon and the sun, measured at the nadir point
Land Views:  
Water Views:  
Atmosphere Views:  
Man Made Views:  
City Views:  
Photo is not associated with any sequences


NASA
Home Page
JSC
Home Page
JSC Digital
Image Collection
Earth Science &
Remote Sensing

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