Hikueru
- ISS002-E-8866
- 11 July 2001
- 00:53 UTC
Hikueru lies slightly to the southeast of the centre of the Tuamotu Archipelago, lying amidst the tight cluster of atolls that are located within the central region of the archipelago. The atolls of Marutea Nord and Marokau lie 53 km to the northwest and 48 km southeast, respectively; with Reitoru and Tekokota 50 km to the southwest and 22 km northeast, respectively.
Hikueru forms an oval-shaped structure of aroud 15 km across covering an area of 107 km², with a deep central lagoon containing numerous coral heads. On the west and north sides are a series of narrow motu with a total land area of around 25 km². The eastern and southern sides of the atoll are composed solely of broad submerged reefs.
image: earth sciences and image analysis laboratory, nasa johnson space center