Stellary Starry Universe

This is a composite of a series of images photographed from a mounted camera on the Earth-orbiting International Space Station, from approximately 240 miles above Earth. Expedition 31 Flight Engineer Don Pettit said of the about photographic techniques used to achieve the images: “My star trail images are made by taking a time exposure of about 10 to 15 minutes. However, with modern digital cameras, 30 seconds is about the longest exposure possible, due to electronic detector noise effectively snowing out the image. To achieve the longer exposures I do what many amateur astronomers do. I take multiple 30-second exposures, then ‘stack’ them using imaging software, thus producing the longer exposure.” A total of 18 images photographed by the astronaut-monitored stationary camera were combined to create this composite. Image Credit: NASA

Flying at an altitude of about 240 miles over the eastern North Atlantic, the Expedition 30 crew aboard the International Space Station photographed this nighttime scene. This view looks northeastward. Center point coordinates are 46.8 degrees north latitude and 14.3 degrees west longitude. The night lights of the cities of Ireland, in the foreground, and the United Kingdom, in the back and to the right, are contrasted by the bright sunrise in the background. The greens and purples of the Aurora Borealis are seen along the rest of the horizon. This image was taken on March 28, 2012. Image Credit: NASA

Using a digital still camera, the International Space Station Expedition Three crew captured a setting sun and the thin blue airglow line at Earth’s horizon. Some of the station’s components are silhouetted in the foreground. This image was taken on Sept. 16, 2001. Image Credit: NASA

The bright sun, a portion of the International Space Station and Earth’s horizon are featured in this image photographed during the STS-134 mission’s fourth spacewalk in May 2011. The image was taken using a fish-eye lens attached to an electronic still camera. Image Credit: NASA

 

The space station unfurled its last pair of solar wings Friday after 10 years of construction. A few comments when the job was completed; “Tremendous news! Great work guys,” Mission Control called back. “You’ve got a whole bunch of happy people down here as well.”

“We’re very happy as well,” Archambault said. “Full power!”

Each of the new 115-foot (35-meter) wings unfolded gracefully, with none of the glitches which have plagued previous array deployments. The astronauts unfolded the new arrays in stages. That allowed them to warm in the sun to reduce the stickiness.

“It was absolutely beautiful,” station commander Michael Fincke said in a televised interview, adding that there was a “shout of triumph” as the wings unfurled.

Source: Space.com – click here for full article