With the Seward Peninsula of Alaska to the east, and ChukotskiyPoluostrovof Siberia to the west, the Bering Strait separates the UnitedStates and the Russian Federation by only 90 kilometers. It is named forDanish explorer Vitus Bering, who spotted the Alaskan mainland in 1741while leading anexpedition of Russian sailors. This view of the regionwas captured by the Multi-angle Imaging Spectroradiometer’s (MISR’s)vertical-viewing (nadir) camera on August 18, 2000.
The boundary between the US and Russia lies between Big and LittleDiomede Islands, which are visible in the middle of the Bering Strait.The Artic Circle, at 66.5 degrees north latitude, runs through theArctic Ocean in the top part of this image. This circle marks thesouthernmost latitude for which the Sun does not rise above the horizonon the day of the winter solstice. At the bottom of this image is St.Lawrence Island. Situated in the Bering Sea, it is part of Alaska andhome to Yupik Eskimos.
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Image courtesy NASA/GSFC/JPL, MISR Team.
