Astraea Nunatak

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Astraea Nunatak is a rocky peak that sticks up through the ice, located about 6 miles (10 km) south of the Staccato Peaks on southern Alexander Island. It was mapped from air photos taken during the Ronne Antarctic Research Expedition in 1947–48 and from surveys by the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey in 1948–50. It was named by the UK Antarctic Place-Names Committee after Astraea, an asteroid between Mars and Jupiter.

The British Antarctic Survey’s 1975 aeromagnetic survey of Astraea Nunatak and nearby Ceres Nunataks showed the area contains igneous rocks, specifically diorite and tonalite. In December 1975 BAS carried out an eight-week survey to study whether Astraea Nunatak and Ceres Nunataks have a connected aeromagnetic signal. The team, including I. A. Crawford and R. W. Girdler, flew at about 1,130 meters above the ground with about 7.5 km between flight lines, covering roughly 2,200 kilometers. They used a Geometrics G-803 magnetometer, a Bendix DRA-12 Doppler navigation system, a Sperry C-12 gyro-magnetic compass, and a Bonzer radio altimeter. The survey contributed to knowledge about Alexander Island and the Antarctic Peninsula.