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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2025 May 21

Explanation: Typically, the International Space Station is visible only at night. Slowly drifting across the night sky as it orbits the Earth, the (ISS) can be seen as a about once a month from many locations. is then visible only just after sunset or just before sunrise because it shines by reflected sunlight -- once the enters the , it will drop . The only occasion when the is when it . Then, it passes so quickly that only cameras taking short exposures can visually freeze the onto the background . The did exactly that -- it is actually a series of images taken a month ago from , with perfect timing. was later combined with a separate image highlighting the texture of the active Sun which included several around the edge.

Authors & editors: () & ()
NASA Official: Amber Straughn .
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