Space

Sunglint on the Alabama River

.In this June 26, 2023, photograph extracted from the International Spaceport station, sunlight polishes off the smooth waters of the Alabama Stream in a sensation known as sunglint. When capturing Earth, rocketeers often capitalize on sunglint's tendency to enhance the comparison between water areas as well as regarding property surface areas.In the 1960s, the Alabama Waterway was obstructed, generating Dannelly Tank (the large shining location at center left). Building of the dam additionally reared water levels upriver. This caused flooding at numerous points along the stream. These disaster area are common of floodplains-- the poor, level locations promptly alongside much larger rivers. In this graphic, flooded zones seem like rough, vivid shapes prolonging off of the river, like at Gee's Bend (facility bottom).Text Credit Score: Justin Wilkinson.Graphic Debt: NASA/Woody Hoburg.