Penrhyn
- ISS006-E-38868
- 16 March 2003
- 19:41 UTC
Penrhyn (also known as Mangarongaro) is the northernmost component of the Cook Islands, being located 1,365 km northeast from Rarotonga in the far southern regions of the Cook Islands. Vostok, the southernmost member of the Line Islands, lies 610 km to the southeast. It's nearest neighbour is the small atoll of Rakahanga, located 350 km to the southwest.
It is the largest atoll structure to be found in the Cook Islands, with a 77 km long reef rim enclosing a deep lagoon of 233 km² in area. Its numerous islets have a combined land area of 10 km². The lagoon, which has many patch reefs, is connected to the open sea by two well-formed passes: the Takuua Passage on the northeast side and the Siki Rangi Passage on the northwest.
Located around 5 km off the eastern side of the Penrhyn, opposite the Takuua Passage, sits the small Flying Venus Reef (the bright blue spot on the right side of the above image and readily visible in the large size version of this image).
image: earth sciences and image analysis laboratory, nasa johnson space center
