Holy cow, what an amazing picture! Thierry Legault, a well-known astrophotographer, recently captured this literally (in my case) breathtaking image of the space shuttle Endeavor docked with the International Space Station (ISS) as the two vehicles passed in front of the Sun. Another of Legault’s recent shots captured the shuttle Atlantis and the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) as they transited across the Sun.
I particularly like how the perspective makes it look like they’re all there, orbiting the Sun. Of course they’re not really; they’re actually orbiting our own planet Earth. It’s the same phenomenon of perspective that makes the Moon — 400 times smaller than the Sun but 400 times closer — appear about the same size as the Sun during a solar eclipse. This also explains how you can blot out the Sun entirely with your thumb, which is many billion of times narrower than our home star’s disk.
Legault suggests the power of the images is their ability to make these sophisticated instruments real to non-astronomers. "These space ships are virtual for all these people," he said in an e-mail. "A lot of people think that if the HST takes pictures that are so detailed, it's because it's voyaging in space to get closer to the planets and galaxies! With [my] images, they realize that they are real, they are just overhead and they could almost see them."
In fact, Legault remains surprisingly humble about the pictures, saying, "With good training and equipment, anyone can do it, as any other photograph." Of course, even for a pro like him, such work remains quite a challenge. "If I miss it, it's over forever, period. Perhaps like the match ball in the final of Wimbledon. Basically, it's a challenge to myself: Are you able to do it again, will you succeed?"
As athletes and astronomers both know, meeting that self-imposed challenge is half the fun. "My primary motivation is that it's funny to do and there is a lot of adventure and (good) stress," Legault said. "Every time it's a total surprise: Will the ships be on the images? In which orientation? What details will be visible? Will the image be fuzzy or sharp?"
So, assuming you have enough preparation and training, you too can go out and snap pictures like these. "[It’s] just like the final of Wimbledon," Legault said, before adding, "No, I'm kidding: It's much easier :-)"
What do you think? In total awe, like me? Or have you snapped better ones in your backyard?