Jeff R. wrote:
I happened upon these two rather impressive blown highlights in Google
Earth, at:

150°59'49.49"E 33°49'0.68"S

(and a hundred metres or so north of that) and and just wondering...
Is this common in Google's sat shots? Anyone seen others?

Didn't the goddam astronaut check his histogram before posting?

It actually begs another set of questions...
My scanner frequently blooms just like those shots if I'm scanning
highly reflective items, but my digital cameras don't bleed in a
linear fashion like that - just a big white patch.

Is Google using a huge flatbed scanner in its satellites?

Detail that close in GE is from aerial photos/scanners, not satellites.
Control of blooming is a function of the CCD design in the camera. I'm
surprised that a scanner has blooming caused by the same type of sensor
defect, as most scanners use a line sensor and not an area sensor. More
likely that the reflections from your object are behaving unlike
reflections from paper, and therefore being mis-interpreted.

David