ISS transit across the solar disc, 2017. Montage of three images of the International Space Station (ISS, dark object) crossing (transiting) the disc of the Sun. These images were taken at 13:53 on 14 June 2017, from Mourao, Dark Sky Alqueva Reserve, Portugal. The ISS orbits the Earth every 90 minutes at an altitude of around 400 kilometres, travelling at 7.8 kilometres per second. Here, the ISS took less than a second to (transit) cross the disc of the Sun. The distances of the Moon and Sun from the Earth are 400, 000 kilometres and 150 million kilometres respectively. This image of the Sun shows convection cells on its active surface, with prominences visible on the edge of the solar disc. |