Both these remarkable images were captured from the ground by French astrophotographer Thierry Legault.
The first, showing the ISS passing in front of the full moon, was taken from Avranches, France, at 21:34 UTC on December 20, 2010. The space station, of course, is much closer to the camera than the moon is, and is moving at 7.5 km/s relative to the ground, the upshot of which is that this photograph was only possible for the 0.55 seconds it took the ISS to pass in front of the moon. Monsieur Legault knew that, in advance, planned for it, and got the shot.
The second, even more remarkable photograph, shows a double partial eclipse of the sun, most obviously by the moon, to lower left, but also, again, by the ISS. The small dark spot to lower right is a sun spot larger than the Earth itself. This photograph was only possible for a 0.86 second window at 9:09 UTC on January 4th, 2011, from Muscat, Oman. Again, Legault carefully planned to be in exactly the right place, at exactly the right time, and got the shot.
M. Legault's website is absolutely chock-a-block with stunning astrophotography and is well worth the click. Just be prepared to spend some time gawking. [via Neatorama]
More:
- Amateur astrophotographery animation of Jupiter @Makezine.com blog
- Telescope control with stepper motors
- Astrophotography with a modded Quickcam...
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In the not-too-distant future --
Next Sunday, A.D. --
There was a guy named Joel,
Not too different than you or me.
He worked in a satellite loading bay,
Just polishing switches to pay his way;
He did his job well with a cheerful face,
But his bosses didn't like him
So they shot him into space.
We'll send him cheesy movies,
The worst ever made.
Joel says when you got lemons,
You make lemonade.
Now keep in mind he can't control
When the movies begin or end,
Because he used the extra parts
To make his robot friends.
Robot roll-call:
Cambot
Servo
Gypsy
Crow!
If you're wondering how he eats and breathes
And other science facts,
Just repeat to yourself "It's just a show,
I should really just relax
For Mystery Science Theater 3000."
I could be wrong, but I think the Moon picture is flipped left-to-right. I'm reasonably sure that the crater "Tycho" (with the star like lines) is always in the lower left quadrant of the Moon. Remember, the Moon only shows us one side - rotation and revolution times are virtually equal. Hence, the "Dark Side of the Moon," and the birth of David Gilmour.
Gaaaaaa, you made me learn something about the moon. Now I'll always know about Tycho. Too bad I'm old now and it's too late to use this knowledge to get laid. The chicks are impressed with stuff like this ... makes them all wet.
While I appreciate the thoughtful post, it's just proof that the human memory is seriously flawed. The picture of the moon in this post is not horizontally flipped.
I am by no means a lunar expert. As a matter of fact, the only time I can see the "man in the moon" is when I'm lying.
I stand corrected. It's actually rotated a little counter-clockwise.
http://rickpdx.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/skywatchers_moon_map.gif
Yes but I have to smirk a little bit because "which way is up?" Every time I start to think about space and "up and down" I have to laugh at how my pea brain is just too stupid to understand it.
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