Featured Image Credit: NASA
NASA has released a selection of amazing photos capturing the International Space Station traveling past yesterday’s solar eclipse, showing the habitable artificial satellite flying past the crescent sun.
The images were captured by NASA photographer Joel Kowsky, who was on the ground in Banner, Wyoming, to take the snapshots for the US space organization. Using a high-speed camera capable of capturing images at 1,500 frames a second, Kowsky managed to take a series of photos of the ISS zooming past the eclipse, showing its small “H” shape being dwarfed by the sun as it was blocked out behind the moon.
The photos were compiled in the below GIF, showing the ISS steadily drifting past the eclipse:
Kowsky also captured composite images of the eclipse. The below photo is made from seven frames showing the ISS, with six crew members aboard it, moving in front of the sun during a partial eclipse:
Image Credit: NASA / Flickr
The NASA photographer also captured the ISS as the moon had progressed further across the sun. Kowsky’s high-end camera allowed him to capture the images of the space station, which moves at a speed of 17,500 mph roughly 250 miles above the Earth.
Image Credit: NASA / Flickr
The solar eclipse was visible in the US for the first time since 1979, with the natural phenomenon seeing millions of US citizens taking to the outdoors to watch the event — including President Donald Trump, who decided to look directly at the damn thing. The next total solar eclipse in North America will take place in 2024, so we’ll have to make do with these stunning images for the next seven years.
