NASA satellite snaps colourful Christmas Island

WASHINGTON: A NASA satellite has captured a colourful photo of Christmas Island in the Southern Indian Ocean from space.

Christmas Island, an Australian Territory, is a coral atoll (a ring-shaped reef, island, or chain of islands made up of coral) in the northern Line Islands.

When NASA's Aqua satellite flew over Christmas Island on November 11, 2014, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer took a visible picture of the small atoll.

The island is only 135 square kilometres in area and has a tropical equatorial climate with a wet season that runs from December to April.

Although an Australian Territory, Christmas Island is located 2,600 km north-west of Perth, Western Australia.

The island is famous for land dwelling red crab which scramble to the sea each November to release eggs.