No, This Image Was Not Taken from the Space Station, But it Sure Looks Like It

By Nancy Atkinson - June 29, 2013 at 2:05 PM UTC | Space Exploration
Earth-Moon.jpg

I love those images taken from the International Space Station that show the Moon rising or setting above Earth's limb, and when I first saw

this image

posted on

Universe Today's Flickr Group page

, I thought someone had randomly posted one of those images taken by an astronaut on the ISS. But then I saw it was taken by

Patrick Cullis

, one of our "regulars" in our featured astrophotography posts.

This very beautiful, crisp and clear image was taken from a meteorological balloon at 86,000 feet (26,200 meters) above Earth, and it was no fluke that Patrick captured the Moon setting above Earth -- it was planned.

"Once I knew the weather was going to work out for a launch I really planned out what time it needed to happen for the Moon to show up in the frame," Patrick said via Flickr. "Definitely got lucky since the camera is just swinging around randomly under the balloon."

He calls this image "Divided Moon," as it shows the Continental Divide in Colorado. "I-70 can be seen snaking up from the bottom center towards Georgetown (valley stretching from left to right,) Loveland Pass, and the Eisenhower Tunnel," Patrick explained. If you click on the image above (or

go here to see it on Flickr

) you can see other landmarks labeled.

You can see more great shots from Patrick's balloon and read more about it on his website.

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