Earth Observation

ISS040-E-012110 (15 June 2014) --- Coastlines of the southern Baltic Sea are featured in this image photographed by an Expedition 40 crew member on the International Space Station. The crew photographed this panorama looking aft (back along the orbital path) of the spacecraft as the sun was setting over the North Sea. Seen from the space station, the sun’s reflection point moves quickly across the landscape, momentarily lighting up water bodies. In this fleeting view the coast of southern Norway is outlined near the horizon. The strongest reflection of the sun highlights the narrow sea passage known as the Skagerrak—revealing the thin tip of Denmark. Numerous small lakes in southern Sweden appear at center, and scattered clouds cast complex shadows on the southern Baltic Sea. The sweeping curves of the sand spit on the Polish coast, and the long barrier islands on the Russian coast appear in the foreground at the edge of the sun’s reflection disc.