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January 28, 2026 - Lake Turkana
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Lake Turkana lies in an ancient area of the Rift Valley region in East Africa. The saline lake stretches about 154 miles (248 km) in length but is quite narrow, spanning between 10-20 miles (16-32 km) in width. The northern tip belongs to Ethiopia but most of Lake Turkana belongs to Kenya.
The Lake Turkana Basin was home to early humans, as evidenced by remains found in the area. In January 2026, a scientific report published in the journal “Anatomical Record” described the analysis of the most complete set of remains ever found from Homo habilis. H. habilis was one of the earliest members of the Homo genus and lived more than two million years ago. The first remains of this particular skeleton were found in sediment from Lake Turkana in 2012, with additional parts found through careful excavation over the next few years.
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite acquired this true-color image of Lake Turkana on January 16, 2026.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Terra
Date Acquired: 1/16/2026
Resolutions:
1km (171.4 KB), 500m (499.5 KB), 250m (592.7 KB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
Lake Turkana lies in an ancient area of the Rift Valley region in East Africa. The saline lake stretches about 154 miles (248 km) in length but is quite narrow, spanning between 10-20 miles (16-32 km) in width. The northern tip belongs to Ethiopia but most of Lake Turkana belongs to Kenya.
The Lake Turkana Basin was home to early humans, as evidenced by remains found in the area. In January 2026, a scientific report published in the journal “Anatomical Record” described the analysis of the most complete set of remains ever found from Homo habilis. H. habilis was one of the earliest members of the Homo genus and lived more than two million years ago. The first remains of this particular skeleton were found in sediment from Lake Turkana in 2012, with additional parts found through careful excavation over the next few years.
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite acquired this true-color image of Lake Turkana on January 16, 2026.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Terra
Date Acquired: 1/16/2026
Resolutions:
1km (171.4 KB), 500m (499.5 KB), 250m (592.7 KB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
