Archive - Washington, D.C. from Space

July 03, 2021

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Today's archive EPOD was selected because this weekend is Independence Day (July 4th) in the United States. Every weekend we present a notable item from our archives. This post was originally published July 3, 2009 and was updated to reflect the anniversary.

Landsat-7 Satellite Image
Summary Author:
Jim Foster

The Landsat-7 satellite image above features the capital city of the U.S., Washington, D.C. Tomorrow, the U.S celebrates the 245th anniversary of its independence. From its inception, Washington, which sits at the confluence of the Potomac River (lower left) and Anacostia River (right center), was built to serve as the capital of the fledgling nation. Pierre Charles L’Enfant originally designed the layout of the city streets.

The U.S. Capitol can be discerned near the center of the image, the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial are at left center – directly to the left (west) of the Capitol. Just southwest of the Lincoln Memorial, across the Potomac River in the state of Virginia, is the Arlington Memorial Cemetery. The emerald green peninsula to the south of the Capitol is East Potomac Park. At the top left of this image, the dark green strip is Rock Creek Park, which noticeably contrasts with the bright white of adjacent buildings and homes. The donut-like structure to the right (east) of the Capitol is Robert F. Kennedy Stadium. Portions of the state of Maryland can be seen at upper left and also at lower right.

This is a natural-color image composed of several bands in the visible portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. Image acquired May 9, 2005.


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