The Chesapeake Bay from 132 miles up

Essex-born astronaut Tom Jones was oting 132 miles over Virginia April 18 of this year when he snapped this photograph of the Chesapeake Bay region from the window of the space shuttle Endeavour with a 354mm Nikon camera fitted with a 300 mm lens.

The view, not strictly north and south, follows the bay from near the mouth of the Rappahannock River at lower left, to beyond Baltimore and the Patapsco River, top right corner.

The map shows some corresponding locations.

The Delmarva Peninsula, the bright beaches of Assateague Island and Ocean City, and the dark Atlantic Ocean can be seen at lower left.

The broad Potomac enters the bay from the bottom center, flanked by the Patuxent and the Rappahannock rivers. Washington and its suburbs are visible at center top, with Baltimore and suburbs to the upper right.

Much of the bay and the Potomac are colored by silt from spring runoff or reflections of the sky.