NASA Photo ID: STS057-73-075       File Name: 10073298.jpg
  Film Type: 70mm                    Date Taken: 07/01/93
  Title: STS-57 Earth observation of the Eastern Mediterranean, Nile River, Asia Minor
  Description:
  STS-57 Earth observation of the Eastern Mediterranean.  From a high vantage 
  point over the Nile River, this north-looking view shows the eastern 
  Mediterranean and the entire landmass of Asia Minor, with the Black Sea
  dimly  visible at the horizon.  Many of the Greek islands can be seen in
  the Aegean  Sea (top left), off the coast of Asia Minor.  Cyprus is visible
  under  atmospheric dust in the northeastern corner of the Mediterranean.
  The dust  cloud covers the east end of the Mediterranean, its western edge
  demarcated  by a line that cuts the center of the Nile Delta. This dust
  cloud originated  far to the west, in Algeria, and moved northeast. A gyre
  of clouds in the  southeast corner of the Mediterranean indicates a
  complementary  counterclockwise (cyclonic) circulation of air. The
  Euphrates River appears  as a thin green line (upper right) in the yellow
  Syrian desert just south of  the mountains of Turkey.  The Dead Sea (lower
  right) lies in a rift valley  which extends north into Turkey and south
  thousands of miles down the Gulf of  Aqaba, the Red Sea, and on through
  East Africa. The strait international boundary between Israel and Egypt
  (where the coastline angles) is clear in this view, marked by thicker
  vegetation on the Israeli side of the border.  The green delta of the Nile
  River appears in the foreground with Cairo seen as a gray area at the apex
  of the triangle.  Most of Egypt's 52 million inhabitants live in the
  delta. On the east side of the delta, the Suez Canal is visible.  On the
  western corner of the delta lies the ancient city of Alexandria.  The World
  War II battlesite El Alamein lies on the coast.