Cool Video: Space Station Flies in Front of the Moon

By Nancy Atkinson - December 29, 2014 at 5:50 PM UTC | Space Exploration
2014-12-28-ISS_moon_1.jpg

This has been on my bucket list for a while, but I've never had the opportunity to witness it myself: seeing the International Space Station transit the Moon. And now thanks to my friend

Gadi Eidelheit

, I want to see it for myself even more! He captured video and imagery of the ISS scooting in front of the Moon, from Ganot, Israel.

"This was just about 10km from my house!" Gadi told me via email. "I used a Canon 700d with Sigma 18-250 for the first clip and Canon sx50HS for the second clip (maximum zoom which equivalent to 1200mm). To find the best place I used

Heavens-Above

and a little trial and error! I just choose different locations near my home until I found the correct spot."

For the first part of the video you need to look closely, as the transit happens quite quickly. But then Gadi slows it down, and later zooms in on the action. It still happens quite quickly but it's very fun to see.

Gadi is an amateur astronomer and blogger who always has interesting things to post on

social media

or on

his blog

. You've really got me motivated now, Gadi!!

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com