Gallery | Top Space Pix 2011 | Two eclipses for the price of one

On January 4, 2011 (so it just made this list) there was a partial solar eclipse, with the Moon cutting a chord across the Sun. Astrophotographer Thierry Legault, using some astronomy software, realized the best place to take pictures of the eclipse was in Muscat in the Sultanate of Oman. Why there? Because from that location during the eclipse the International Space Station also transited the Sun! He snapped this picture with preternatural timing; the ISS moves so rapidly as seen from the ground that it only takes 0.9 seconds to cross the Sun's face. Thierry literally had to have split-second timing to get this once-in-a-lifetime shot.

Image credit: Thierry Legault

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