The International Space Station was spotted travelling in front of the Sun on June 17.
52-year old Jamie Cooper has captured the awe-striking moment of the modular space station as it silhouetted in front of the Sun while travelling at about 17,000 mph (27,300km).
The photographer reportedly realized that the ISS was expected to be visibly seen above his home in Whilton, near Daventry, Northamptonshire.
Mr Cooper, a professional photographer and keen amateur astronomer also added that he was in the right place at the right time.
According to Cooper, at around 10:22 BST, he shot its “entire transit” across the Sun.
The moment reportedly lasted less than a second, using a telescope and a high speed video camera.
“This was an opportunity not to be missed,” Cooper said.
Apparently, during the journey, three cosmonauts and four astronauts were currently deployed on the station.
“There’s a very narrow band where you, the space station and Sun are all in a straight line and it’s about three miles wide,” the photographer added.
Cooper’s high resolution camera has reportedly photographed the solar granulation from gas bubbles percolating on the Sun’s surface.
In addition, sun spots can also be seen.
“I’d checked the data three days before and it was going to miss my house, I checked the day before and it was going to be over my house, so I was lucky.” He continued.
Reports revealed that the space station was about 250 miles (400km) away from above his house.
The keen amateur astronomer also added that his very high speed video camera was shooting at 80 frames a second, compared to a normal camera speed of 25 frames.
“It’s important to say I use a specialist telescope with a filter because you should never look at the Sun without a filter – it can lead to permanent blindness.” Cooper said.
The International Space Station or ISS is a modular space station that is a multinational collaborative project that involves five participating space agencies including Roscosmos, NASA, ESA, JAXA and CSA.
The use of the space station and its ownership is established by intergovernmental treaties and agreements.
