Shuttle snapped up against sun (amazing pic)

The Sun UK ^ | 5/15/2009 | LEON WATSON

[SonOfDarkSkies]

NASA'S space shuttle Atlantis has been caught in a stunning snap silhouetted against the sun.

The pic — the first ever image taken of a solar transit of a space shuttle and Hubble Space Telescope — was taken by an amateur astronomer from his back garden.

[SonOfDarkSkies]

More pics at source...

[Thrownatbirth]

With no sun spots, what else can an amateur with an expensive sun filter do?

[Prodigal Son]

That’s really cool.

[NormsRevenge]

Very cool.

[Dr. Bogus Pachysandra]

They’re too close to the Sun! They’re gonna have to crash on the Moon! That’d make a funny movie!

[coloradan]

If I were any good at photoshop, instead of posting this lame comment I would post Katrina beer guy silhouetted against the sun, and Air Force 0ne with the Statue of Liberty silhouetted against the sun.

[KarlInOhio]

Where's the telescope?

A few years ago there were some pretty cool pictures of the shuttle and the space station.

http://www.astrosurf.com/legault/iss_atlantis_transit.html

That site said that the transit time for the space station is 0.6 seconds.

[justlurking]

A previous photo from September 2006, of the shuttle and the ISS:

[justlurking]

They’re too close to the Sun! They’re gonna have to crash on the Moon! That’d make a funny movie!

Yeah, but some lame producer would name it "Airplane".

[knarf]

ET, call home

[KarlInOhio]

In response to the person who was worried about the sun being too hot, here's another picture of the space station.

[dfwgator]

OH My GOD, The SUN!!!!

The sun, what is it?

It’s a big fiery ball at the center of our solar system, but that’s not important right now.

[Just another Joe]

Makes you realize just how small mankind is in comparison to God’s creation.

[Clioman]

Too hot? Too cold? Either way, it’s Bush’s fault.

[andy58-in-nh]

A photo op is a photo op...

[Puppage]

It’s a big fiery ball at the center of our solar system, but that’s not important right now.

Surely you must be joking?

[going hot]

Do you live in Clio? I am going to a party there this Summer.

[George from New England]

Oh please oh please - plunge.

[dfwgator]

I just hope the Shuttle doesn’t fly over Macho Grande.

[Yogafist]

ROFLMAO! Good one.

[dfwgator]

They bought their tickets. They knew what they were getting into. I say, let ‘em crash!

[cripplecreek]

That site said that the transit time for the space station is 0.6 seconds.

Which makes it an even more spectacular shot. Not to mention the calculations that go into figuring out the right time to snap the pic.

Anybody up for doing the math to figure out how small of a fraction of a day that needs to be narrowed down to?

[George from New England]

I believe we are referring to Air Force One for the plunge into the sun.

[SkyDancer]

Just wondering - I know there’s no oxygen in space so no sound traveling, but, I wonder what the sun sounds like ...it’s a continuing nuclear explosion ... thought somehow translating vibrations or something, heavy rumbling?????

[cripplecreek]

Seems like I read that the heliosphere (Sun’s atmosphere) is actually superheated by the sound alone.

[a fool in paradise]

"Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?"

[a fool in paradise]

Ironic, the photo appears in the Sun.

[lafroste]

Considering that the sun is 93 million miles into the background, that’s an astonishing picture.

[Covenantor]

It's a good thing they did a night fly-by.

[TexasBeth]

VERY NICE!!!

[Nathan Zachary]

[wideminded]

The space shuttle is 122 feet long. The Hubble Space Telescope was orbiting at 365 miles altitude. If the sun was directly overhead, the image of the shuttle would thus occupy 13 seconds of arc.

The image of the sun takes up about half a degree in the sky or about 1900 seconds of arc. So the sun should look about 150 times as wide as the shuttle, which is about what these pictures are showing.

[tnlibertarian]

Over Macho Grande?

[dfwgator]

No, I don’t think I’ll ever get over Macho Grande.

[wideminded]

See #32.

[Larry Lucido]

Cool. Good thing they didn’t try that at night!

[Publius6961]

LOL!

[mad_as_he$$]

ROFLMAO. Thanks you made my day!

[Peter Horry]

“They’re too close to the Sun!”

Oh my goodness, hope they didn’t damage the heat shields.

[andy58-in-nh]

Now, I have “Magic Carpet Ride” going through my head...

[holden]

Wow, the photog's assistants must be holding up really huge photo reflectors to get enough light onto the near-side of AF1 and overcome the sun's naked brilliance!

HF

[andy58-in-nh]

Obama claims it was illuminated by his own brilliance.

[Steve Van Doorn]

And don’t call me Shirley
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZPVw-Vl1ow

[Steve Van Doorn]

That pic cracked me up!
thanks

[MHGinTN]

I sure hope nobody shows this to Rep. Sheila Jackson Fleas. She’ll demand our shuttle not be flown so close tot he sun.

[razorback-bert]

bookmark

[Lou L]

Hilarious....what’d that one cost?

[Scythian]

LOL, best “Flyover” picture yet ..

[Skenderbej]

LOL! The sun gets its light from Barack.

[SunTzuWu]

That site said that the transit time for the space station is 0.6 seconds. Which makes it an even more spectacular shot. Not to mention the calculations that go into figuring out the right time to snap the pic. Anybody up for doing the math to figure out how small of a fraction of a day that needs to be narrowed down to?

Are you looking for an answer more complicated than 0.6 seconds?