Credit & Copyright: Tom Laskowski
Explanation:
A stunning telescopic image of the
International
Space Station
crossing in front of an eight day old Moon, this picture
was captured on April 11th.
But while Wednesday's leisurely
transit
of Mercury across the Sun
entertained observers all over the
dayside of planet Earth, the
audience for this lunar transit was more restricted.
Like other satellites
in low Earth orbit, the space
station moves quickly
through the sky.
Glinting in the sunlight near
sunset and sunrise,
its path strongly depends on the observer's longitude and latitude.
So, well-placed astronomer Tom Laskowski tracked the
orbiting space station
from a site near South Bend, Indiana, USA and
recorded a digital movie
of the fleeting, dramatic event.
This single frame from the movie has been enhanced to
bring out detail
in
the space station.
Seen below the lunar terminator at the lower left,
the International Space Station appears here at a distance
of just over 400 kilometers,
with the Moon nearly 400,000 kilometers away.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day