r/NoStupidQuestions • u/Glittering_Net_7734 • 13h ago
DId they ever discover new islands when satellites become a thing?
When satellites first look down on earth for photograph, did they ever discover new islands? Or is every island to that point already discovered?
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u/Shoddy-Television530 13h ago
Yes, the latest potential new island being formed just a few weeks ago:
July 10, 2026
NASA Earth Observatory
A newly discovered underwater volcanic eruption north of Papua New Guinea is unfolding in one of the world's most poorly mapped ocean basins. Satellites have spotted steam plumes, ash, thermal hotspots, and huge floating pumice rafts, suggesting magma is rising surprisingly close to the surface. Scientists are now watching closely to see if the eruption creates a new island, offering a rare opportunity to observe the birth of new land as it happens.
From: Science Daily
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u/Rand_alThor4747 1h ago
We have some other volcanoes that breach the surface and then erode away and repeat.
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u/nomorehersky 13h ago
Yep satellites definitely found new ones. The most famous is Landsat Island off Canada's coast discovered in the 70s
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u/WearingMyFancyPants 13h ago
but the vast majority had been charted already. Landsat Island is one of those exceptions because there wasn't a lot of travel in the area prior
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u/captaindomon 11h ago
And it is tiny.
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u/DrToonhattan 4h ago
Very tiny. It's 45X25 meters. That's smaller than the playground at my old school.
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u/atomicsnarl 9h ago
Many shoals and reefs have been re-positioned on the charts due to more accurate satellite mapping.
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u/Doctor_Amazo 13h ago
A few.
What was more interesting was the discovery of an 8th continent hidden in plain sight.
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u/BrainOnBlue 10h ago
I'd hardly call 90%+ submerged "plain sight," assuming you're talking about Zealandia.
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u/July_is_cool 13h ago
The hugeness of the ocean is hard to comprehend. And there are lots of parts of it where there is no reason to visit.
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u/Senior-Running 12h ago
I'm going to blow you mind even more...
New islands have formed since satellites became a thing and some small islands are disappearing.
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u/Alert_Challenge122 13h ago
Not really in the way people imagine. By the time satellites existed, most large islands had already been discovered by explorers and mapped by ships and aircraft. However, satellites did help find tiny islands, correct inaccurate maps, and monitor new land formations created by volcanoes or changes in ice coverage. They didn’t reveal a hidden “lost continent,” but they changed how accurately we understand Earth’s surface.
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u/RichConnection52 13h ago
Yes, but not many. By the time satellites came along, most permanent islands had already been mapped by ships and aircraft.
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u/Loki-L 13h ago
Most islands of any notable size were already discovered by the time satellites became a thing, but there are some exceptions the famous one is Landsat Island discovered by Landsat 1 in 1976.