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Vahanga
Vahanga is a small uninhabited atoll part of the Acteon Group in the Tuamotu archipelago, French Polynesia and belongs to the municipality of the Gambier Islands. Geography Vahanga is located 9 km west of Tenarunga and 1362 km southeast of Tahiti. It is a circular atoll with a diameter of 3.6 km and an area of 3.8 km2 (12.6 km2 lagoon inclusive). It is a low atoll with a landing place on the northwest side of the island near a white house, but there is no access to the lagoon. History The first recorded sighting of this atoll was made during the Spanish expedition of the Portuguese navigator Pedro Fernández de Quirós on 5 February 1606 under the name ''Las Cuatro Coronadas'' (the "four crowned" (by coconut palms)), however these observations were not fully documented. As such, the first unambiguous approach to the island was made in 1833 by navigator Thomas Ebrill on his merchant vessel ''Amphitrite'' and again in 1837 by Lord Edward Russell, command ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tenarunga
Tenarunga or Tenania, previously Narunga and formerly Minto Island is a low, wooded and uninhabited atoll in the Acteon Group in the southeastern part of the Tuamotu Islands in French Polynesia. It is administratively a part of the Gambier Islands. Geography Tenarunga is located northwest of Matureivavao, west of Vahanga and southeast of Tahiti. It has a land area of and a total area (lagoon inclusive) of . There are some buildings and a dock located on the north-east side of the island, indicating former and/or seasonal habitation. The atoll's lagoon is not accessible from the sea. History The first recorded sighting of this atoll was made during the Spanish expedition of the Portuguese navigator Pedro Fernández de Quirós on 5 February 1606 under the name ''Las Cuatro Coronadas'' (the "four crowned" (by coconut palms)), however, these observations were not fully documented. As such, the first unambiguous approach to the island was made on 14 March 1828 by the explorer H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tenararo
Tenararo is the smallest atoll in the Acteon Group in the southeastern part of the Tuamotu Islands in French Polynesia. It is administratively a part of the Gambier Islands. It is uninhabited. Geography Tenararo is located west of Vahanga, the nearest island, west of the Gambier Islands and southeast of Tahiti. It is a circular atoll with a land area of and a land area of . The atoll has a landing place on its NW side between the small boulders which encumber the reef. There is no entrance to the lagoon. History The first recorded sighting of this atoll was made during the Spanish expedition of the Portuguese navigator Pedro Fernández de Quirós on 5 February 1606 under the name ''Las Cuatro Coronadas'' (the "four crowned" (by coconut palms)), however these observations were not fully documented. As such, the first unambiguous approach to the island was made on 14 March 1828 by the explorer Hugh Cuming in his ship the Discoverer captained by Samuel Grimwood. The next visi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Acteon Group
The Acteon Group (Groupe Actéon) is a rather isolated and uninhabited subgroup in the far southeast of the Tuamotu atoll group in French Polynesia. It is located about east-southeast of Tahiti at latitude: 21° 17' 60 S, longitude: 136° 29' W. Atolls The Acteon Group includes four atolls of relatively small size: * Matureivavao * Tenararo * Tenarunga * Vahanga None of the islands on these atolls have permanent inhabitants. History The first recorded European to sight the Acteon Group was Pedro Fernández de Quirós on 5 February 1605. He described the group as ''"four atolls crowned by coconut palms"''. On the different texts describing his voyage by other members of this Spanish expedition they were charted as "Las Cuatro Coronadas" (The four Crowned), "Las Cuatro Hermanas" (The Four Sisters), "Las Virgenes" (The Virgins) or "Las Anegadas" (The Flooded ones). The rediscovery of Acteon Group is generally credited to Thomas Ebrill, captain of the Tahitian trading vessel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tuamotus
The Tuamotu Archipelago or the Tuamotu Islands (french: Îles Tuamotu, officially ) are a French Polynesian chain of just under 80 islands and atolls in the southern Pacific Ocean. They constitute the largest chain of atolls in the world, extending (from northwest to southeast) over an area roughly the size of Western Europe. Their combined land area is . This archipelago's major islands are Anaa, Fakarava, Hao and Makemo. The Tuamotus have approximately 16,000 inhabitants. The islands were initially settled by Polynesians, and modern Tuamotuans have inherited from them a shared culture and the Tuamotuan language. The Tuamotus are a French overseas collectivity. History The early history of the Tuamotu islands is generally unknown. Archaeological findings suggest that the western Tuamotus were settled from the Society Islands as early as 900 CE or as late as 1200 CE. DNA evidence suggests that they were settled about 1110 CE. On the islands of Rangiroa, Manihi and Mat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Matureivavao
Matureivavao, or Maturei-vavao is an uninhabited atoll in the Acteon Group in the southeastern part of the Tuamotu Islands. It is the largest atoll within the Acteon Group, and like others in this group, is administratively part of the Communes de France, commune of the Gambier Islands. Geography Matureivavao is about long in a NNW-SSE direction and wide. It has a land area of and a lagoon area of . It lies southeast of Tenarunga and from Tahiti. The atoll is high enough to be visible from a considerable distance. It appears as a sandy beach, backed by a line of dark green. In bad weather, the seas sometimes sweep over the reef. There is no entrance to the lagoon. In some maps, this atoll also appears as "Melbourne". History The first recorded sighting of this atoll was made during the Spanish expedition of the Portuguese navigator Pedro Fernández de Quirós on 5 February 1606 under the name ''Las Cuatro Coronadas'' (the "four crowned" (by coconut palms)), however, these o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tuamotu Sandpiper
The Tuamotu sandpiper (''Prosobonia parvirostris'') is an endangered member of the large wader family Scolopacidae, that is endemic to the Tuamotu Islands in French Polynesia. It is sometimes placed in the monotypic genus ''Aechmorhynchus''. A native name, apparently in the Tuamotuan language, is ''kivi-kivi''. Description The 15.5–16.5 cm long Tuamotu sandpiper is a small, short-winged, mottled brown bird with more or less barred underparts. Its short sharp beak is more like that of an insectivorous passerine than a wader. There are two colour morphs which intergrade. Pale birds are medium brown above and white below, with light barring or spotting on the breast and whitish streaking on the head. The bold supercilium and the chin are also white. The rectrices are brown with white tips and white triangular markings on the outer webs. Dark phase birds replace medium with darker brown and white with light buff or tawny white. The flanks are brown, and the entire underparts a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gambier Islands
The Gambier Islands ( or ) are an archipelago in French Polynesia, located at the southeast terminus of the Tuamotu archipelago. They cover an area of , and are made up of the Mangareva Islands, a group of high islands remnants of a caldera along with islets on the surrounding fringing reef, and the uninhabited Temoe atoll, which is located 45 km (28 mi) south-east of the Mangareva Islands. The Gambiers are generally considered a separate island group from Tuamotu both because their culture and language ( Mangarevan) are much more closely related to those of the Marquesas Islands, and because, while the Tuamotus comprise several chains of coral atolls, the Mangareva Islands are of volcanic origin with central high islands. Administratively, the Gambier Islands are inside the commune of Gambier, which also includes several atolls in the Tuamotu Archipelago. The town hall (''mairie'') of the commune of Gambier is located on Mangareva, in the Gambier Islands. The population of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tuamotu Islands
The Tuamotu Archipelago or the Tuamotu Islands (french: Îles Tuamotu, officially ) are a French Polynesian chain of just under 80 islands and atolls in the southern Pacific Ocean. They constitute the largest chain of atolls in the world, extending (from northwest to southeast) over an area roughly the size of Western Europe. Their combined land area is . This archipelago's major islands are Anaa, Fakarava, Hao and Makemo. The Tuamotus have approximately 16,000 inhabitants. The islands were initially settled by Polynesians, and modern Tuamotuans have inherited from them a shared culture and the Tuamotuan language. The Tuamotus are a French overseas collectivity. History The early history of the Tuamotu islands is generally unknown. Archaeological findings suggest that the western Tuamotus were settled from the Society Islands as early as 900 CE or as late as 1200 CE. DNA evidence suggests that they were settled about 1110 CE. On the islands of Rangiroa, Manihi and Mat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), to give the U.S. space development effort a distinctly civilian orientation, emphasizing peaceful applications in space science. NASA has since led most American space exploration, including Project Mercury, Project Gemini, the 1968-1972 Apollo Moon landing missions, the Skylab space station, and the Space Shuttle. NASA supports the International Space Station and oversees the development of the Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch System for the crewed lunar Artemis program, Commercial Crew spacecraft, and the planned Lunar Gateway space station. The agency is also responsible for the Launch Services Program, which provides oversight of launch operations and countdow ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cassytha Filiformis
''Cassytha filiformis'' or love-vine is an orangish, wiry, parasitic vine in the laurel family (Lauraceae), found in warm tropical regions worldwide in the Americas, Africa, Asia, Australia, and the Pacific. It is an obligate parasite, meaning it cannot complete its life-cycle without another host plant. Research in Florida (in southeast United States) has found that love-vine inhibits gall wasps by attacking the galls (small growths on plants) that the wasps create for their young. The plant is one of many considered an aphrodisiac in the Caribbean, lending the name "love-vine." Distribution The species has a native pantropical distribution encompassing the Americas, Indomalaya, Australasia, Polynesia and tropical Africa. Description ''Cassytha filiformis'' is a twining vine with an orange to pale green stem. Leaves are reduced to scales about 1 mm long. Flowers are borne in spikes or sometimes solitary. There are six tepals, each 0.1-2.0 mm long. Fruit is a drupe ab ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amaranthaceae
Amaranthaceae is a family of flowering plants commonly known as the amaranth family, in reference to its type genus ''Amaranthus''. It includes the former goosefoot family Chenopodiaceae and contains about 165 genera and 2,040 species, making it the most species-rich lineage within its parent order, Caryophyllales. Description Vegetative characters Most species in the Amaranthaceae are annual or perennial herbs or subshrubs; others are shrubs; very few species are vines or trees. Some species are succulent. Many species have stems with thickened nodes. The wood of the perennial stem has a typical "anomalous" secondary growth; only in subfamily Polycnemoideae is secondary growth normal. The leaves are simple and mostly alternate, sometimes opposite. They never possess stipules. They are flat or terete, and their shape is extremely variable, with entire or toothed margins. In some species, the leaves are reduced to minute scales. In most cases, neither basal nor terminal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Achyranthes Aspera
''Achyranthes aspera'' (common names: chaff-flower, prickly chaff flower, devil's horsewhip, Sanskrit: अपामार्ग ''apāmārga'') is a species of plant in the family Amaranthaceae. It is distributed throughout the tropical world. It can be found in many places growing as an introduced species and a common weed. It is an invasive species in some areas, including many Pacific Islands environments. Description *Habit : A wild, perennial, erect herb. *Stem : Herbaceous but woody below, erect, branched, cylindrical, solid, angular, hairy, longitudinally striated, nodes and internodes are prominent, green but violet or pink at nodes. *Leaves : Ramal and cauline, simple, exstipulate, opposite decussate, petiolate, ovate or obovate, entire, acute or acuminate, hairy all over, unicostate reticulate. *Inflorescence : A spike with reflexed flowers arranged on long peduncle. *Flowers :Bracteate , bracteolate , bracteoles two, shorter than perianth , dry, membranous and persiste ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
