International Space Station in Transit

International Space Station in Transit



A stunning telescopic image of th InternationalSpace Stationcrossing in front of an eight day old Moon, this picturewas captured on April 11th.But while Wednesday's leisurel transitof Mercury across the Sunentertained observers all over th dayside of planet Earth, theaudience for this lunar transit was more restricted Like other satellitesin low Earth orbit, the spacestation moves quicklythrough the sky.Glinting in the sunlight nearsunset and sunrise,its path strongly depends on the observer's longitude and latitude.So, well-placed astronomer Tom Laskowski tracked theorbiting space stationfrom a site near South Bend, Indiana, USA an recorded a digital movieof the fleeting, dramatic event.This single frame from the movie has been enhanced tobring out detai inthe space station.Seen below the lunar terminator at the lower left,the International Space Station appears here at a distanceof just over 400 kilometers,with the Moon nearly 400,000 kilometers away.