The ISS Meets Venus

Made with a telescope shaded from bright sunlight by an umbrella, on April 5 a well-planned video captured a crescent Venus shining in clear daytime skies from Shoreline, Washington, USA at 11:57AM Pacific Time.

It also caught the International Space Station in this single video frame. In close conjunction with the bright planet, the faint outline of the orbital outpost seen at a range of about 400 kilometers appears to be similar in size to the slender planetary crescent. Of course the International Space Station is much smaller than Venus.

Now appearing as planet Earth’s brilliant morning star and climbing above the eastern horizon in predawn skies, inner planet Venus was nearly 45 million kilometers from Shoreline.

Astrophotography in daytime can reveal remarkable details within our own Solar System, especially with precise timing and equipment.