File:Gilbert Islands (MODIS 2022-01-01).jpg

English: On December 28, 2021, NASA’s Aqua satellite passed over the central Pacific Ocean, allowing the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board to acquire a true-color image of about half of the coral atolls and islands that make up the Gilbert Islands. The sixteen atolls and islands are strung in a line, like glittering beads on a necklace, from northwest to southeast across the deep blue ocean waters. Most of these “beads” show a pale edge, which is formed by coral reef, with a bright blue lagoon in the center. The Gilbert Islands are part of the Republic of Kiribati, which is an island nation made up of about 33 atolls. The islands have been inhabited for about two millennia by indigenous Micronesians. Europeans found the islands in the late 1700’s, and this group was named after Captain Thomas Gilbert who found some of the atolls in 1788. These islands became colonies of Britain, achieving independence in the 1970s.