Moon over ISS

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.

2020 November 6

Explanation: Completing one orbit
of our fair planet in 90 minutes
the International Space Station can easily be spotted by eye
as a very bright star moving through the night sky. Have you seen it? The next time you do, you will have recognized the location of over
20 years of continuous human presence in space. In fact, the
Expedition 1 crew to the ISS
docked with the orbital
outpost some 400 kilometers above the Earth on November 2, 2000. No telescope is required to spot the ISS flashing through the
night. But this telescopic field of view does reveal remarkable
details of the space station
captured as it transited the waning gibbous moon on November 3,
just one day after the space age milestone. The well-timed telescopic snapshot also contains the
location of another inspirational human achievement. About 400,000 kilometers away,
the Apollo 11 landing site on the dark,
smooth lunar Sea of Tranquility
is to the right of the ISS silhouette.

Source: apod.nasa.gov