Fisheye lens on space station captures vast panorama

8 March 2021 Astronomy Now

Astronaut Andrew Morgan, floating in the multi-window cupola compartment aboard the International Space Station, used a 16mm fisheye lens to capture a wide-angle view of Africa, the Middle East and the Levant, showing the deep blue of the Mediterranean Sea, the verdant Nile River and delta, the Gulf of Suez, Israel and the Dead Sea, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. While such wide-angle views from the station are more of an exception than a rule, they allow for unique views like this one, encompassing landscapes on two continents. Morgan snapped the picture on 18 August 2019.

The Nile Delta, the Sinai Peninsula and the Levant in southwest Asia, as viewed from the International Space Station. Click image for a zoomed-in view. Image: Drew Morgan/NASA

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