January Gallery

Strait of Olkhon, Lake Baikal

Lake Baikal. View of the Strait of Olkhon, on the west coast of Lake Baikal, Russia. The land on the horizon is Olkhon Island. Baikal is the largest reservoir of fresh water in the world, containing about 23, 000 cubic kilometres, or about 20% of the world's total supply. The lake is about 620 km long and up to 72 km wide, and is located in a rift valley in Siberia. Its maximum depth is about 1940 metres. Hot vents deep in the lake have created a unique ecosystem in its waters

© RIA NOVOSTI/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

6-metre reflector of Zelenchukskaya telescope

Part of the Bolshoi ('large') altazimuth optical telescope at the Zelenchukskaya observatory, Russia. Situated in the Caucasus mountains, the telescope has an aperture of 6 metres, making it the largest single- mirror optical telescope in the world (as at 1993). The triangular objects around the mirror are protective doors. The telescope weighs over 800 tonnes, the mirror itself weighing 42 tonnes. The mirror was cast from glass; there are plans under study to replace this with a lighter, more thermally stable mirror made from Sital. Direct photography has been possible of objects of the 24th magnitude, though fainter objects may be visible with electronic systems

© RIA NOVOSTI/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY