The image was acquired by the German TerraSAR-X radar satellite on 21 September 2009 while operating in ScanSAR mode and has a resolution of around 18 metres. It shows the Montara offshore oil platform in the Timor Sea, northeast of Australia, with an oil slick of around 2000 square kilometres spreading out from it, revealed as a dark area. The image covers an area of 100 by 150 kilometres.