August 12, JPEG. The afternoon sunlight highlights the western mountain faces and contrasts with the mountain shadows, creating image depth and dimension.
Settlements like this one are typical of the Alpine foothills because of the flat land in the valley. The Ticino River empties into Lake Maggiore, the largest lake in southern Switzerland, approximately 14 kilometers 9 miles from the city. Switzerland is a federal state, meaning powers are divided amongst the confederation, cantons, and communes.
The communes are the smallest political entity, but they have their own parliaments. Communes will sometimes consolidate regulation of schools and welfare, energy supplies, roads, local planning, and local taxation. Prior to , there were at least fifteen communes identifiable in this image. On April 2, , an aggregation combined smaller municipalities into one commune named Bellinzona.
Most map annotations do not reflect this recent change. The number of communes in Canton Ticino have been reduced by half in the past eight years. A defensive wall referred to as the murata links the castles and recalls the Medieval period, when this tactical Alpine pass was protected from outsiders traveling to northern Italy.
The image was taken by a member of the Expedition 51 crew. The image has been cropped and enhanced to improve contrast, and lens artifacts have been removed. The International Space Station Program supports the laboratory as part of the ISS National Lab to help astronauts take pictures of Earth that will be of the greatest value to scientists and the public, and to make those images freely available on the Internet.
