                        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.

                                2022 April 11

                     A Space Station Crosses a Busy Sun
            Image Credit & Copyright: Wang Letian (Eyes at Night)

   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
   several times a year 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 earlier this month from
   Beijing, China with perfect timing. This image series was later
   combined with separate images taken at nearly the same time but
   highlighting the texture and activity on the busy Sun. The solar
   activity included numerous gaseous prominences seen around the edge,
   highlighted in red, filaments seen against the Sun's face, and a dark
   sunspot.

                     Tomorrow's picture: cosmic seahorse
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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                      A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
                             & Michigan Tech. U.

