Photo of the Day

Picture 015
January 21, 2009

Desert of Death, Afghanistan

Like drifting clouds, hilltops mirrored in a mirage appear to float behind a Land-Rover. The illusion is created by heat waves shimmering in 120-degree (49-degree-Celsius) temperatures of the Dasht-i-Margo—Afghanistan's so-called "Desert of Death."

(Photo shot on assignment for "Afghanistan—Crossroad of Conquerors," September 1968, National Geographic magazine)

Photograph by Thomas J. Abercrombie

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