Sochi as seen from space

A NASA satellite is giving you a view of Sochi that you won’t see during the 2014 Olympic Games.

The Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) instrument aboard NASA’s TERRA satellite snapped a photo of the site on Jan. 4. The image was released on Feb. 6. (For a high-resolution of the image, click here.)

In the image is the Olympic Park Coastal Cluster (bottom centre) which is the site for indoor sports as well as an arena for curling, and several arenas for hockey and skating events.

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A second photo centres on the Rosa Khutar ski resort in the mountains, the site of the alpine Olympic events. In the valley is the resort; the ski runs are on the slopes to the left. Though it may look steep, the photo shows the height exaggerated by 1.5 times in order to accentuate topographic details.

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For a high-resolution version of this image, click here.

The hills aren’t actually red, but the camera captures vegetation in red, snow in white, buildings as grey and the ocean as a dark blue.

The actual city of Sochi is not visible in this photograph.