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Ships That Pass in the Night
Credit: Marco Langbroek
The sky is full of stars and galaxies, but eagle-eyed skywatchers can also spot satellites, space shuttles and stations from Earth too. Take a look at some of the best photos of spaceships caught on camera. NASA's space shuttle Discovery and the International Space Station are seen in this time-lapsed image as they fly over Leiden, The Netherlands, just before the two spacecraft docked on March 17, 2009 during the STS-119 mission. The shuttle is the object slightly fainter and lower in the sky. Movement is from right to left
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Moon and International Space Station
Credit: NASA
Multiple images of the International Space Station flying over the Houston area have been combined into one composite image to show the progress of the station as it crossed the face of the moon in the early evening of Jan. 4, 2012. [
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International Space Station over Central Florida
Astrophotographer Mike Killian caught the ISS on Jan. 5, 2012, and wrote: "ISS made a 6 minute pass over central FL last night, viewing conditions were perfect."
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Phobos-Grunt Viewed from the Ground
Credit: ESA/Ralf Vandebergh, used with permission
Phobos-Grunt image taken from the ground on November 29, 2011, by amateur astronomer, Ralf Vandebergh, in The Netherlands.
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Close-up Skywatcher Photo of Phobos-Grunt
Credit: Ralf Vandebergh
A close-up shot of Russia's troubled Phobos-Grunt probe, snapped by astrophotographer Ralf Vandebergh on Nov. 29, 2011.
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Moon and Space Station
Credit: NASA
Multiple images of the International Space Station flying over the Houston area have been combined into one composite image to show the progress of the station as it crossed the face of the moon in the early evening of Jan. 4, 2012. [
Full Story]
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Above the Treetops
Credit: Marco Langbroek
Another view of NASA's space shuttle Discovery and the International Space Station as they streak across the sky in this time-lapsed image as they fly over Leiden, The Netherlands, just before the two spacecraft docked on March 17, 2009 during the STS-119 mission. The shuttle is the object slightly fainter and lower in the sky. Movement is from right to left.
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Icarus (Borne on Wings of Steel)
Credit: NASA/Thierry Legault
In this tightly cropped image, the NASA space shuttle Atlantis is seen in silhouette during solar transit, Tuesday, May 12, 2009, from Florida. This image was made before Atlantis and the crew of STS-125 had grappled the Hubble Space Telescope.
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Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun
Credit: NASA/Thierry Legault
Here, the NASA space shuttle Atlantis and the Hubble Space Telescope are seen in silhouette, in a tightly cropped view, side by side during solar transit at 12:17 p.m. EDT, Wednesday, May 13, 2009, from west of Vero Beach, Florida. The two spaceships were at an altitude of 600 km and they zipped across the sun in only 0.8 seconds.
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Just Passing By
Credit: NASA/Thierry Legault
The NASA space shuttle Atlantis and the Hubble Space Telescope are seen in silhouette, side by side in this solar transit image made at 12:17 p.m. EDT, Wednesday, May 13, 2009, from Vero Beach, Florida. The two spaceships were at an altitude of 600 km and they zipped across the sun in only 0.8 seconds. (Shuttle and Hubble are viewable in the lower left of the image.)
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I Can See for Miles
Credit: Dirk Ewers
This image provided by amateur astronomer Dirk Ewers, Saturday, Feb. 9, 2008 at around 17:44 GMT, using a 4,200-millimeter refractor telescope in Hofgeismar, Germany, shows the Space Shuttle, left, advancing on the international space station ISS in an earth orbit at some 350 kilometers.
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Curved Air
An ISS flare photographed as the space station passed over the town Nydek in the Czech Republic.
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We All Shine On
Credit: Mike Tyrell
An ISS flare, caused by sunlight reflecting off the solar panels of the space station, was captured by amateur astronomer Mike Tyrell as it passed over England.
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Don't Pass Me By
Credit: E. Morana
Skywatcher Ed Morana routinely hunts for the International Space Station as it passes in front of the Moon. This multiple image was assembled from images he took of the ISS passing in front of the Moon on Feb. 13, 2006.
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Satellite's Gone
Credit: IfA/Rob Ratkowski
Debris from the shot-down spy satellite USA 193 was visible from Maui, Hawaii.
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There's Always Someone Looking At You
Credit: Greg Roberts
This image is a still from a short video produced by Greg Roberts of the U.S. secret satellite DSP-F23 (bright dot at bottom) as it approached the ASTRA 1 constellation group.
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Crackin' Up
Credit: ESA/NASA
Two NASA chase planes captured the European ATV space cargo ship breaking up in the atmosphere upon successful reentry and completion of the mission.
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Blaze of Glory
Credit: ESA
This is one of the first images taken by the DC-8 aircraft which observed the re-entry of Jules Verne ATV over the Pacific Ocean.
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ISS Over West Chester, Pennsylvania, August 2011
Credit: Jeff Berkes
Photographer Jeff Berkes caught the International Space Station over West Chester, Pennsylvania, on August 13, 2011.
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Phobos-Grunt Captured in Video
Credit: Thierry Legault
The failed Russian mission to one of Mars' small moons was captured by Thierry Legault and Emmanuel Rietsch (http://legault.perso.sfr.fr) on video, New Year's Day 2012.
