NASA-International Space Station

This astronaut photograph shows the Calabria region of southern Italy--the toe of Italy's "boot"--outlined by the Ionian and Tyrrhenian Seas to the southeast and northwest, correspondingly. The water appears nearly mirror-like due to sunlight. This happening is caused by sunlight reflecting off the water surface directly back towards the observer aboard the International Space Station (ISS). The ISS was situated over northwestern Romania, to the northeast of Calabria, when this image was taken.

The Calabrian Peninsula appears shortened and distorted due to the intense sideways viewing angle from the ISS. Such a viewpoint is termed oblique, as opposed to a nadir view, in which the astronaut is looking directly downwards towards the Earth's surface from the ISS. This highly oblique analysis also highlights two distinct cloud patterns over the Calabrian interior. Patchy, highly textured cumulus clouds are there at lower altitudes, while grey altostratus clouds are stretched out by prevailing winds at higher altitudes. The Strait of Messina, just visible at image upper right, marks the border between the coastline of Italy and the island of Sicily.