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Through the years since the first definitive issue of Pitcairn stamps was released in 1940, the philately of Pitcairn Island has enjoyed a much-sought-after status among stamp collectors throughout the world.
Pitcairn From Space
The images of the Pitcairn Islands were captured by DigitalGlobe’s QuickBird satellite, which was launched in 2002 to orbit at an altitude of 450 km. QuickBird’s 60 cm resolution images allow objects on the earth’s surface, including houses, road center lines and even fence lines, to be seen.
Mounted on the satellite are two digital cameras: one 60 cm grey-scale sensor and one 2.4 m color sensor. Together, the images obtained from these sensors can be used to plan, monitor, analyze and support a variety of applications, including: managing the effectiveness of irrigation in agriculture; monitoring the impact of mining on the environment; map creation; change detection and analysis; emergency response management services and vegetation health determination.
One of the advantages of DigitalGlobe satellite imagery is that large regions can be captured anywhere on the earth’s surface, which is of particular relevance for remote areas of developing regions with limited resources. DigitalGlobe’s image library also houses the most comprehensive, up-to-date images available in the world. Since 2002, QuickBird has collected imagery covering 340,000,000 square kilometers of land and sea, and collects approximately one million square kilometers of imagery each week.
The latest addition to the growing constellation of DigitalGlobe commercial sensors is the WorldView-1 satellite. Launched in September 2007, this satellite is capable of capturing image date at 50 cm resolution - now the highest resolution commercially available.
With increased agility, on-board storage and the ability to recapture the same site on Earth up to every 1.7 days, WorldView-1 can collect up to 750,000 square kilometers (200,000 square miles) of high resolution imagery per day. It can also capture imagery in stereo, obtaining multiple shots of areas, which can be combined into 3D images. WorldView-2, the second satellite in DigitalGlobe’s next-generation imaging system, is expected to launch in late 2008.
Technical Details:
The designer of these stamps was Denise Durkin, Wellington, New Zealand. The printer was Wyatt and Wilson of Christchurch, New Zealand. Photography: Images are by DigitalGlobe. All rights reserved. The printing process was offset litho; the stamp size is 38mm diameter; the format is 4 circular self-adhesive stamps; the perforation guage is simulated perforations; the sheet configuration is 20 stamps per sheet, 2 x panes of 20; the denominations are 60c, $1.00, $2.00 and $2.50; the paper used is stamp grade self adhesive paper; and the period of sale for these stamps is February 27, 2008 for a period of approximately two years.
["Stamps of the Australian Territories: Norfolk Island" (By F. Collas, Assistant Controller, Postmaster-General’s Department, Melbourne)]
Pitcairn Stamp Issues(Click small stamp images to see larger views.)
Since 1940, Pitcairn stamp issues have included:
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