The Galapagos Islands, isolated in the eastern Pacific Ocean, lie about 1,000 km off the coast of Ecuador.

This Landsat 8 mosaic combines four images from March of 2015. The islands were formed by volcanoes, some of them still active. Volcanic craters and lava flows dominate the islands along with dense green vegetation.

The Galapagos became a place of scientific significance when Charles Darwin visited 183 years ago this September and October. Darwin himself landed on and explored four of the islands.

His exploration of the islands and careful observations led to a revolution in scientific theory about the origin of living beings.

Darwin didn’t have satellite imagery, but Landsat continues the scientific tradition of collecting valuable data about the Earth.