A Siberian Snowman in Billings — NASA Science
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Image of the Day for December 17, 2025
Winds, waves, and ice near a remote town on the Chukchi Peninsula have carved a chain of coastal inshore lagoons into a silhouette that looks like a winter icon.
NASA Earth Observatory
Dec 17, 2025
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Icons of winter often appear in unexpected places. In this striking example, a series of oval lagoons in a secluded corner of Siberia align to resemble a towering snowman when viewed from above.
This image, centered on the remote village of Billings and the nearby Cape Billings on Russia’s Chukchi Peninsula, was captured by the Operational Land Imager (OLI) aboard Landsat 8 on June 16, 2025. Established in the 1930s as a port and supply point for the Soviet Union, the village sits along a narrow sandspit that separates the Arctic Ocean from a chain of connected coastal inshore lagoons.
The elongated lagoons are frozen and bordered by sea ice. Even in June, one of Billings’ warmer months, ice cover remains common. Meteorological data show mean daily minimum temperatures around minus 0.6 degrees Celsius (30.9 degrees Fahrenheit) in June.
Although the feature may look engineered, it is the product of natural geological forces typical of Earth's far north. The region’s ground stays frozen most of the year and hosts spear-shaped ice wedges buried beneath the surface. Summer melting causes the overlying soil to slump, creating shallow depressions that fill with meltwater and form thermokarst lakes. Once formed, persistent wind and wave directions likely elongated and aligned the lakes into the visible shapes. The thin ridges separating the lakes may mark the edges of different ice wedges below the surface.
The idea of snowmen dates back to the Middle Ages, as explored in The History of the Snowman. While the classic three-sphere form is common, many areas feature different variants. In Japan, snowmen typically consist of two segments and often lack arms. This five-segment chain of lakes stretches roughly 22 kilometers (14 miles) from top to bottom, making it about 600 times longer than the world’s tallest snowwoman record holder listed by Guinness World Records in 2025.
Snowmen aren’t the only winter symbols tied to this remote landscape. Early Arctic expeditions to Russia relied heavily on reindeer for transportation. This includes journeys led by Commodore Joseph Billings, a British-born naval officer who joined the Russian navy and led a survey expedition seeking a Northeast Passage between 1790 and 1794.
Although the expedition’s hundred-plus members did not reach Cape Billings, they explored much of the Chukchi Peninsula, producing some of the era’s first accurate maps and helping confirm that Asia and North America are separated by a strait. In winter, when ice trapped their ships, the explorers set up temporary camps on land and conducted surveys using reindeer-drawn wooden sleds. Winters offered easier traverses than summer’s muddy bogs.
The indigenous Chukchi people, living on the peninsula at the time, routinely used reindeer to haul people and cargo. A pair of reindeer can carry hundreds of pounds for several hours daily. Beyond their impressive cold-weather endurance, reindeer can feed themselves by digging through snow and grazing on lichens, a capability that sled dogs or horses lack.
Historical records indicate that the Billings expedition enlisted Chukchi people to manage and care for the reindeer, with some accounts noting the use of dozens of animals at times. While reindeer were mainly used to pull sleds, the Chukchi likely rode them as well.
Non-Chukchi members of the expedition reportedly experimented with riding reindeer, though the experiences were imperfect. Billings’ secretary and translator, Martin Sauer, described saddles without stirrups or bridles and falling about 20 times after three hours of travel; he also noted that the saddle caused sharp thigh pains at first.
NASA Earth Observatory image by Michala Garrison, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey. Story by Adam Voiland.
Cited sources and references:
- Alekseev, A. I. (1966). Joseph Billings. The Geographical Journal, 132(2), 233-238.
- Arctic Portal Chukchi reindeer information. Accessed December 16, 2025.
- Additional historical and geological references spanning snowman history, thermokarst formation, and Chukchi expeditions.
Image credits and data references:
NASA (2012) Views of the Snowman; NASA Earth Observatory image by Michala Garrison; Landsat data from USGS.
Story by Adam Voiland. Additional historical notes and scholarly references included for broader context.
Downloads: June 16, 2025
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