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
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]
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."
Phobos-Grunt image taken from the ground on November 29, 2011, by amateur astronomer, Ralf Vandebergh, in The Netherlands.
A close-up shot of Russia's troubled Phobos-Grunt probe, snapped by astrophotographer Ralf Vandebergh on Nov. 29, 2011.
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]
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.
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.
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.
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.)
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.
An ISS flare photographed as the space station passed over the town Nydek in the Czech Republic.
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.
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.
Debris from the shot-down spy satellite USA 193 was visible from Maui, Hawaii.
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.
Two NASA chase planes captured the European ATV space cargo ship breaking up in the atmosphere upon successful reentry and completion of the mission.
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.
Photographer Jeff Berkes caught the International Space Station over West Chester, Pennsylvania, on August 13, 2011.
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.
