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See the original image at apod.nasa.gov

APOD: The International Space Station Transits the Sun

apod.nasa.gov — That's no sunspot. It's the International Space Station (ISS) caught by chance passing in front of the Sun. Sunspots, individually, have a dark central umbra, a lighter surrounding penumbra, and no solar panels.

Who dugg this? Made popular Jul 31, 2008

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46 Comments

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  • geekchic, on 07/30/2008, -4/+56That's not a moon, it's a spacestation
  • wyomason, on 07/30/2008, -2/+14Can you get the perspective here? Looking at the ISS with the Sun in the background -- in the FAR background.
  • alaynapaige, on 07/30/2008, -1/+11This is awesome! :D
  • kitsched, on 07/30/2008, -1/+11The two links are:

    http://snurl.com/37krb
    http://snurl.com/37krf
  • ence117, on 07/31/2008, -2/+8Awesome, it reminds me of looking at something tiny through a microscope with the light shining underneath. In a way it is the same thing, but on a completely different scale!
  • MattFid, on 07/30/2008, -2/+7You're blocking my light.
  • Dingle, on 07/31/2008, -2/+6Very similar to this one of the shuttle Atlantis after it undocked from the space station.
    http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap060921.html
  • dp2ihs, on 07/30/2008, -4/+6That link underlying the words "great image" points to a entry at Phil Plait's "Bad Astronomy" blog, where he marveled over an older picture with ISS *and* the Shuttle Atlantis. Don't miss following another link there to the French Astrosurf page where the spectacular color versions are shown.
  • Halsfield, on 07/31/2008, -1/+3incredible how large the sun is compared to the station even when the station is so close to us. The universe really will blow your mind if you give it half a chance.
  • milkmit, on 07/31/2008, -2/+4Does anyone else feel like the sun is pulsing at them as they scan the text below from left to right?
  • Ribbott, on 07/31/2008, -0/+2Damn that kills the eyes. Every time you move your eyes while reading the text, the sun flashes.
  • MuskokasFinest, on 07/31/2008, -1/+3Considering the ISS is 350 km away...and the sun is 150 000 000 km away...yea that's pretty far...
  • randomstupid, on 07/31/2008, -0/+1omg its the Virgin Mary
  • Depravo, on 07/31/2008, -0/+1Correct.
  • bngeodesic, on 07/31/2008, -0/+1Mickey Mouse Transits the Sun
  • Pusod, on 07/31/2008, -3/+4MIRROR:

    http://www.biggspowell.com/archives/upload/1stdibs ...
  • Depravo, on 07/31/2008, -1/+2It's a black-and-white photo.
  • GrogInOhio, on 07/30/2008, -2/+3Now that is cool!!
  • truman48, on 08/01/2008, -0/+1I see it now, I thought there was some crap on my screen
  • dabura, on 07/31/2008, -1/+2You sir, are a good man.
    probably not necessary since it's NASA
  • Halsfield, on 07/31/2008, -0/+1why stop posting articles on APOD when they are still doing xkcd, zero punctuation , etc. There are too many to stop them all, instead we should give them their own category (weekly submissions) or something.
  • swizzlestick, on 07/31/2008, -0/+1Um, that's not the Space Station it's the Icarus II. We sent it to detonate a bomb in the sun, to stop it from dying out.
  • BossKey, on 07/31/2008, -1/+2The sun is so bright that if you rendered it white, the space station would be blown out and not visible. It would be exactly the same if you positioned a fly between you and the sun and took a picture of the fly. To keep the fly from being overwhelmed by the backlight level of the sun, you would have to lower the exposure level of the photograph.

    In fact, what we are used to is the sun being a big blank spot, but that common perception is wrong. It has a surface with features. The only reason we normally perceive it to be a big blank spot is that its brightness far exceeds the range of brightness of objects here on Earth.
  • danwgre, on 07/31/2008, -0/+1Yeah, I had to cover the sun with my hand just to read the text without becoming nauseous. weird.
  • grantmoore3d, on 07/31/2008, -0/+1"Also, sunspots occur on the Sun, whereas the ISS orbits the Earth" Noooooo, really!?
  • Niels, on 07/31/2008, -0/+1and here is the vid..

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLQ7P1VGEN0

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDyYmBRR92w&feature ...

    no rickroll, i promise
  • zakool21, on 07/31/2008, -0/+1Yes, I have no idea why you were dugg down. Reading that page was an optical illusion in and of itself.
  • LiberalsSuckAss, on 07/31/2008, -3/+3How long till Apple sues someone over using APOD as an abbreviation?
  • CATSCEO2, on 07/31/2008, -1/+1You are an utter failure.
  • briankoenig03, on 07/31/2008, -3/+2It's the "Astronomy Picture of the Day" for TODAY, July 30th. How much newer do you want?
  • aluebbert, on 07/31/2008, -3/+2Be sure to check out the full res version by clicking on the photo - - incredible. I'm having 4th grade glee spasms.
  • Aerlinger, on 07/31/2008, -1/+0Yeah, I noticed that too.
  • hollyminkowski, on 07/31/2008, -2/+1That is a cool image!
    They could move the ISS to some more interesting spot like Mars orbit, this has been speculated on quite a bit. It is rather fragile but with proper guying using strong cables it could be moved by attached rockets.
    It is interesting to listen to radio traffic from the ISS. It is easy to pick up as long as the ISS is above your horizon, several websites list the frequencies to check out.
  • 5730, on 07/31/2008, -4/+2"Explanation: That's no sunspot. It's the" lochness monster!
  • Depravo, on 07/31/2008, -3/+1Surely everyone who follows Digg has bookmarked APOD by now.
  • migshark, on 07/31/2008, -4/+2It's not necessarily unusual that the current solar minimum is being drawn-out, but it is worrying and annoying. The sun needs to 'vent' so to speak. The solar cycle needs to hurry up.
  • dwlegg, on 07/30/2008, -4/+2Utterly cool :)
  • thegrantman, on 07/31/2008, -3/+1That's just the scene from E.T. when they fly the bike in front of the moon.
  • paradigm1220, on 07/31/2008, -4/+2Can someone explain why the Sun appears to be gray?
  • inactive, on 07/31/2008, -3/+0indeed
  • thatsgoodkarma, on 07/31/2008, -4/+1^ So much win.
  • Hodor, on 07/30/2008, -5/+2*sizzle*
  • dabura, on 07/31/2008, -6/+2***** you, two of my droids died mooning that spacestation.
  • Gavin, on 07/31/2008, -6/+2This is nothing new but always neat to see.
  • Pusod, on 07/31/2008, -10/+3Ipod is much better.
  • DeskFlyer, on 07/30/2008, -12/+2OMG YER SUPPOSED TO JUST HIT THE DIGG BUTTON NO GENERAL COMMENTS ALLOWED YOU SHOUT SPAMMING NOOB

    /sarcasm

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