This Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) thermal-infrared composite image, the first high spatial resolution multi-spectral thermal infrared data from the satellite, is of an area in Ethiopia’s Afar Triangle. It shows color variations which are mainly due to rock and soil composition differences; temperature differences are expressed as brightness variations. Areas shown in the red hues on the left and right sides are probably underlain by rocks with high silicon-dioxide content, whereas those areas appearing white and lavender in the central part are dominantly basaltic lava flows and cinder cone deposits. The dark areas within the complex of basaltic rocks are mainly domes, which are highly fractured.Image Credit: NASA/ JPL/ASTER Instrument Team/MITI/ ERSDAC and JAROS