Astronaut Loral O'Hara, who is onboard the International Space Station, recently shared stunning pictures capturing the phenomenon of 'alpenglow' near the Hindu Kush mountain range. According to the American Meteorological Society, 'alpenglow' ​​​​​​is a reddish glow seen near sunset or sunrise on the summits of mountains. Ms O'Hara shared several pictures of the captivating phenomenon on X, and called it ''magical.''
''Alpenglow: just as magical from space as it is on Earth. Near the Hindu Kush mountain range in Central and South Asia,'' astronaut Lora O'Hara wrote while sharing the pictures.
See the pictures here:
The post shared on January 18 has gone viral, garnering more than 50,000 views and more than 200 likes. One user wrote, ''Beautiful view of what is thought to be the originating location of Indica Landrace strains.''
Another commented, ''Stunning photos taken by @lunarloral from the @ISS_Research. The last time I saw Loral was in Flagstaff as we completed a week of #geology training - she nailed it with these images!''
A third added, ''Looks like @lunarloral is practicing her Europan/Ganymedean orbital terrain mapping training skills for a future mission - possibly with submersibles.''
Notably, the Hindu Kush is an 800-kilometer-long mountain range that stretches through Afghanistan from its center to Northern Pakistan and into Tajikistan. It forms the western segment of the Hindu Kush Himalayan region.
The region stretches across eight countries – Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Nepal, Myanmar and Pakistan. It is the source of ten large Asian river systems and provides water, ecosystem services, and the basis for livelihoods to a population of around two billion people in the region. However, the Hindu Kush Himalayas are warming about three times faster than the global average. The rapidly melting glaciers in the region are threatening to upend agriculture, food security, freshwater availability, and energy sources. It can also endanger some plant and animal species in the biodiversity hotspots to the point of extinction.
