Amanu
- STS093-HDTV-5166
- 25 July 1999
- 22:04 UTC
Amanu, an atoll of the Centre East Group, is located 52 km to the northeast of its larger neighbour of Hao — to which it is associated administratively.
Amanu forms an elongated, northeast to southwest orientated, oval-shaped atoll measuring 29 km in length and averaging 9 km across. It lies at right angles to the neighbouring Hao — an orientation that is quite rare for the atolls of the Tuamotu Archipelago. The outer reef crest is continuous, except for three narrow passages on the western rim, enclosing an interior lagoon of some 240 km² in area. Many small motu are located at the northern and southen ends as well as along the western rim. The eastern rim, by contrast, is largely devoid of landmasses. The total emergent land area of Amanu is 9.6 km².
Synonyms: Freycinet Island, Karere, Moller Island, Timanu
image: earth sciences and image analysis laboratory, nasa johnson space center