Gallery | My Favorite Planet Pics | The Sun
There are literally millions of pictures of our nearest star, ranging from images of it as a plain, spotless disk to incredible close-ups of the roiling, churning surface and explosive flares. But there's something about this image that really grabs you!
Look to the upper right: see those shadows? Those aren't sunspots: they're the International Space Station and Space Shuttle Atlantis silhouetted in front of the Sun! This image was taken by the incredible "amateur" astronomer Thierry Legault in May 2010. Because the Sun is so bright, the exposure time is very short, freezing out the usual atmospheric blurring. That makes the picture extremely crisp and details easy to spot -- see for yourself in the super-high-res version. And don't be fooled by the apparent motionlesness of the duo: screaming above the surface of the Earth at 8 km/sec (5 miles/sec), they transit the Sun's face in less than a second! It took a lot of planning and good timing to pull off this amazing picture.
Related post: ISS Shuttle transit the Sun
Credit: Thierry Legault
Look to the upper right: see those shadows? Those aren't sunspots: they're the International Space Station and Space Shuttle Atlantis silhouetted in front of the Sun! This image was taken by the incredible "amateur" astronomer Thierry Legault in May 2010. Because the Sun is so bright, the exposure time is very short, freezing out the usual atmospheric blurring. That makes the picture extremely crisp and details easy to spot -- see for yourself in the super-high-res version. And don't be fooled by the apparent motionlesness of the duo: screaming above the surface of the Earth at 8 km/sec (5 miles/sec), they transit the Sun's face in less than a second! It took a lot of planning and good timing to pull off this amazing picture.
Related post: ISS Shuttle transit the Sun
Credit: Thierry Legault
