A mesmerizing close up of the full moon which shows the silhouette of the ISS also known as the International Space Station recently posted by a astrophotography enthusiast and blogger on his blog site went viral on social media sites in less than a week from its publishing date.
Dylan O’Donnell was able to capture a unique zoom by performed by the ISS over the Moon that lasted less than half a second. He used a state-of-the-art DSLR Canon 70D camera and a Celestron telescope to catch the epic photo in the exact moment the ISS was crossing over the lunar surface just above his home town in Australia.
The said photo, although it is not unique, made many people dreaming about various themes from how far space exploration managed to come to the evanescence of humanity when compared to the Moon’s million-year age.
Usually, space amateurs can learn about the International Space Station whereabouts and when the next sightseeing opportunities may occur from NASA’s ‘Spot the Station’ blog site. The site contains accurate information on when and where the ISS will be seen in transit.
But O’Donnell knew about the zoom by and the exact second on which it might occur from the Switzerland-based CalSky website. The close up which was dubbed “International Space Station over Australia” was first uploaded on its author’s website on June 30.
The photo is available for download on the site, along with the raw version as it was taken by the camera. The International Space Station is seen as a small dot on the upper right of the picture. The whole move across the Moon’s surface lasted as many as 0.33 seconds, but the photographer knew the exact second from the astronomy site.
He said that he had to patiently await the encounter with his camera and a clock on his hand. But he had been planning the move for more than a year. Catching the rare event takes a lot of skill but a great deal more luck, O’ Donnell explained.
The International Space Station crew has been on the Earth’s low orbit since 1998 and conducted various experiments ever since. ‘Spot the Station’ shows the countries and cities that may see the elusive station over the course of one month. NASA boasts that over 6,700 are listed on the site and more data is updated on a daily basis.
On the other hand if your town or city does not appear on the NASA’s blog site you should check the nearest location because the ISS remains visible for a long time in certain regions, website administrators explained.
Image Source: Deography
