An astronaut aboard the International Space Station captured this photo of Turkmenistan’s Cheleken Peninsula (Poluostrov Cheleken) while orbiting over the Caspian Sea. Two spits lie perpendicular to the peninsula’s western edge, giving the peninsula its hammerhead-like shape. The spits are recognized as two separate geographic features: the Kafaldja Peninsula (north) and the Dervish Peninsula (south). The central portion of the peninsula extends approximately 40 kilometers (25 miles) into the Caspian Sea and is roughly 22 kilometers (14 miles) wide.
The Cheleken Peninsula has a dry desert environment with linear, wind-formed dunes located along the top right and center of this image. A series of dried lakes appear dark gray among the light brown sands. These lakes fill and dry with the rise and fall of water levels in the Caspian Sea.
The Caspian Sea’s coastal waters contain suspended sediment and blooms of phytoplankton, which give the water a milky green-blue hue. The effect is most visible within the Türkmenbaşy Gulf.
A single road runs along the southern edge of the peninsula toward the town of Hazar. The town has a population of about 30,000 and is known for its petroleum industry. Hazar is also home to a seaport primarily used for the transportation of oil and gas. Oil rigs sit off the coast of the Cheleken Peninsula and are visible as small dots on the water’s surface.
Astronaut photograph ISS072-E-274 was acquired on September 23, 2024, with a Nikon Z9 digital camera using a focal length of 200 millimeters. It is provided by the ISS Crew Earth Observations Facility and the Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit, Johnson Space Center. The image was taken by a member of the Expedition 72 crew. The image has been cropped and enhanced to improve contrast, and lens artifacts have been removed. The International Space Station Program supports the laboratory as part of the ISS National Lab to help astronauts take pictures of Earth that will be of the greatest value to scientists and the public, and to make those images freely available on the Internet. Additional images taken by astronauts and cosmonauts can be viewed at the NASA/JSC Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth. Caption by Chloe Locke, Amentum JETS II Contract at NASA-JSC.
