Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                               2019 October 28

                  The Space Station Crosses a Spotless Sun
            Image Credit & Copyright: Eduardo Schaberger Poupeau

   Explanation: Typically, the International Space Station is visible only
   at night. Slowly drifting across the night sky as it orbits the Earth,
   the International Space Station (ISS) can be seen as a bright spot
   about once a month from many locations. The ISS is then visible only
   just after sunset or just before sunrise because it shines by reflected
   sunlight -- once the ISS enters the Earth's shadow, it will drop out of
   sight. The only occasion when the ISS is visible during the day is when
   it passes right in front of the Sun. Then, it passes so quickly that
   only cameras taking short exposures can visually freeze the ISS's
   silhouette onto the background Sun. The featured picture did exactly
   that -- it is actually a series of images taken a month ago from Santa
   Fe, Argentina with perfect timing. This image series was later combined
   with a separate image highlighting the texture of the spotless Sun, and
   an image bringing up the Sun's prominences around the edge. At an
   unusually low Solar Minimum, the Sun has gone without sunspots now for
   most of 2019.

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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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                             & Michigan Tech. U.

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