Lake Baikal As Seen From Orbit

In this late afternoon shot, one of the Expedition 39 crew members aboard the International Space Station looked back toward the setting sun to capture the hook-shaped southern half of Lake Baikal in eastern Russia on April 22, 2014.
Most of the lake is covered with dull gray ice. The brightest point in the center of the image is the reflection of the sun’s rays off a small zone of open water (center) where the ice has begun to melt. Broken ice masses appear adjacent to the sunglint point (center). The sun’s rays are also reflected off the water surface of the straight Angara River, the main outlet of the lake (top right). Lake Baikal is 636 kilometers long (395 miles). It is the deepest lake in the world and holds the largest amount of fresh water. Individual smoke plumes from factories arc away from the north shore (top left). Large smoke palls from wildfires appear in upper right.

ISS039E14821 (22 April 2014) — Larger image