# @nasa on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/C9SpIW-t9Kh
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/20529706-nasa-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/thumbnails/fcbdb77f80.jpg
- **Posted:** 2024-07-11T17:46:20.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** NASA (@NASA) — https://gondola.cc/NASA

## Caption

Thinking about settling down? You're just like sediment.
 
Landsat 5, an Earth-observing satellite, captured this natural color image of the middle portion of the Mergui Archipelago on Dec. 14, 2004. The archipelago in the Andaman Sea is made up of more than 800 islands surrounded by extensive coral reefs.
 
Sediments in the rivers, seen at top middle, make them appear nearly white. As those sediments slowly settle out and are deposited on the seafloor, they make swirling patterns in the near-shore waters. They settle more as you move away from the shore, returning the water to a deep blue color.
 
Landsat 5 launched on March 1, 1984, and was decommissioned on June 5, 2013, far outliving its three-year design life. The satellite orbited the planet more than 150,000 times over the course of 28 years and 10 months while transmitting over 2.5 million images of land surface conditions around the world, officially setting a new Guinness World Records title for “Longest-operating Earth observation satellite.”
 
The NASA/USGS Landsat program provides the longest continuous space-based record of Earth’s land in existence, providing information essential for making informed decisions about Earth’s resources and environment. The most recent satellite in the series, Landsat 9, launched on Sept. 27, 2021.
 
Image description: A view of the Mergui Archipelago from a satellite. Vivid green land frames the top and right sides of the image. The rest of the image is taken up by water. Most of the water has whitish sediments swirling through it. Starting from the middle top, the sediment turns rivers white. Moving down the image, the sediments start to settle out and deposit on the seafloor, turning the sea water a light blue with white streaks. Continuing downward, less and less sediment is present, and the water turns a deeper blue.
 
Credit: NASA
 
#NASA #Satellite #Earth #Water #Landsat

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## Tags

landsat, satellite, earth, nasa, water

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