Provincetown photo makes list of top 15 taken from space station

This astronaut photograph, taken from the International Space Station, shows the northernmost parts of the Cape Cod National Seashore, also known as Provincetown Spit. The orientation of this photo, according to NASA’s website, differs from most maps — here, the direction of north is to the lower left.NASA

What does Cape Cod have in common with the Tunisian port of Sfax and Scandinavia?

All were featured by NASA on its list of the 15 most striking photos taken from the International Space Station this year.

The Cape Cod picture, taken June 13, came in at number 10 on the list.

A photo of the Sahara Desert with the marshes of Lake Chad peeking through during a dust storm took the number one spot.

Astronauts used a “very long lens” to take the detailed picture of the tip of the Cape, NASA wrote on its website.

NASA noted that Cape Cod, a large peninsula, protects much of the Massachusetts coastline from Atlantic storm waves.

Formed about 20,000 years ago by glaciers, the Cape is still young in terms of geological age, the agency said.