An astronaut aboard the International Space Station photographed a striking optical effect over Rennell Island in the Solomon Islands on Jan. 8, 2023. The image shows sunlight reflecting directly off the ocean and the island's lake, turning the water's surface into a silvery, mirror-like sheen.
The effect, known as sunglint, occurs when sunlight reflects off a body of water directly into a camera positioned in low Earth orbit. In this case, the phenomenon lit up both the surrounding ocean and the lake on Rennell Island, giving the water a bright, metallic appearance from orbit.
Rennell Island is located in the Solomon Islands, in the southwestern Pacific Ocean.