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Where is it?Onekotan Island , northwest Pacific Ocean [ 49.35544352 , 154.7164388 ]
What ’s in the photo?Clouds meditate off the mirror - like Earth’s surface of a crater lake between two halves of a vent
Kol’tsevoye Lake is sandwiched between both halves of the Krenitsyna Volcano on Russia’s Onekotan Island. In this astronaut photo, it appears to be full of clouds — but this is just an illusion.
Who took the photo?An unnamed spaceman on the International Space Station ( ISS )
When was it taken?Aug . 19 , 2023
This outstanding astronaut photograph shows one of Russia ’s deep lakes sandwiched between two halves of a vent as its airfoil was transform into a meditative sea of purl cloud thanks to a rare mirror - like phenomenon , known as " sunglint . "
The Krenitsyna Peak rises out of the deep waters of Kol’tsevoye Lake, which in turn sits in the much larger Tsar-Rusyr caldera.
The volcanic " nesting dolls , " collectively known as the Krenitsyna Volcano , are site on the southerly tip of Onekotan Island in the Kuril Islands — a Russian archipelago located in the Pacific Ocean between the Kamchatka Peninsula and Hokkaido , the second - declamatory and northernmost island in Japan .
The vent has two main persona : The orotund lake - filled , crater - same depression , known as the Tsar - Rusyr caldera , which spans up to 5 mil ( 8 kilometers ) across ; and the cone - chassis mountain that heighten out of the piddle , recognize as the Krenitsyna Peak , which reaches some 4,200 feet ( 1,300 meters ) above sea level . This unusual configuration is the result of the vent collapsing in on itself , before a new peak grew up out of the dynamic remnant .
The crater lake that sits within the Tsar - Rusyr caldera and besiege Krenitsyna Peak is cognize as Kol’tsevoye Lake . It is 1,200 feet ( 370 m ) deep , making it one of the deep lakes in Russia , according toNASA ’s Earth Observatory .
Onekotan Island is home to two nesting volcanos: Krenitsyns Volcano in the south (bottom of image) and Nemo Volcano in the north (top of image).
have-to doe with : See all the near image of Earth from space
Sunglint effect
In the cosmonaut photograph , Kol’tsevoye Lake looks as if it has been cover up by low - lying clouds sit down at the bottom of the caldera . However , there are no cloud in this image . rather , what you could see is clouds passing high-pitched over the island that have been reflected off the water supply ’s aerofoil .
ordinarily , a standard observation would not be strong enough to make the clouds depend so literal . But in this case , the orientation of the Sunday relative to the ISS means that the sun ’s full beam is being reflected straight back at the cosmonaut direct the photograph , creating an upshot known as sunglint , whichtransforms a large body of water into a jumbo silver mirror . The caldera ’s flange stands roughly 1,000 invertebrate foot ( 300 m ) above the lake ’s surface , creating shadows that aid to accent the muddy illusion .
However , the clouds are still only seeable because the spaceman is place above the volcano at an angle that allows them to see the sunglint without being right on top of the island , which would mean the clouds would block their view of the lake .
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The Krenitsyna Volcano is still active and last erupted in 1952 with a " moderate " flare-up that last for around a week , agree to the Smithsonian Institute’sGlobal Volcanism Program . But its last major eruption was potential around 7,600 years ago .
Interestingly , another set of volcanic nesting skirt with its own volcanic crater lake , collectively make love as the Nemo Volcano , is position on the northerly oddment of Onekotan Island . However , in this case , the lake does not surround the peak that has grown out of this collapse caldera .
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