Thierry Legault Captures ISS Transit of the Sun -- During Eclipse!

By Nancy Atkinson - March 20, 2015 at 11:40 AM UTC | Solar Astronomy
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Thierry Legault has won today's partial solar eclipse.

Known for his amazing shots of

spacecraft transiting the Sun

, today he captured the International Space Station passing in front of the Sun (and Moon)...

DURING THE ECLIPSE

.

The weather is always fine in Southern Spain...except during eclipse days!" Legault told Universe Today via email. "I had to drive a lot trying to find clear skies, finally the sky was covered with thick high clouds but I got the ISS passing in front of the Moon during the eclipse."

Amazing!

"Double partial eclipse today!"

Legault tweeted

. "The Moon and #ISS in front of the Sun, taken from Spain."

In a

previous article on Universe Today

, Legault shared how he figures out the best places to travel to from his home near Paris to get the absolute best shots:

"For transits I have to calculate the place, and considering the width of the visibility path is usually between 5-10 kilometers, but I have to be close to the center of this path," Legault explained, "because if I am at the edge, it is just like a solar eclipse where the transit is shorter and shorter. And the edge of visibility line of the transit lasts very short. So the precision of where I have to be is within one kilometer."

Legault studies maps, and has a radio synchronized watch to know very accurately when the transit event will happen.

See more wonderful images of the eclipse at our gallery here.

And see more of Thierry's great work at

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