Astrophotographer Andrew McCarthy once again pleased all fans of his work with another spectacular image. He published on social networks an image of the ISS transit over the Moon’s South Pole.
The photo was taken on February 6, when the lunar disk was 57% illuminated. Although it was daylight at the time of the transit, Andrew McCarthy managed to get a clear image of the ISS, as if flying over the cratered lunar surface. Of course, this is nothing more than an optical illusion. In reality, the Moon is a thousand times farther from the Earth than the space station.
Nevertheless, the photo has a distinct symbolism, representing the present and future of astronautics. It was taken at the moment when the ISS was flying over the South Pole of the Moon. It is the main target of the Artemis program.
McCarthy’s image even shows the outline of Shackleton Crater, which is a prime candidate for landing future expeditions. There are thought to be massive deposits of water ice at its bottom, which would make the task of conquering the Moon much easier.
It is worth saying that McCarthy was not the only photographer to capture the ISS transit. It was also filmed by John Kraus. Because he was in a different U.S. state than McCarthy at the time of the flyby, his image shows the space station over the North Pole of the Moon rather than over the South Pole.
Earlier, we reported on how Andrew McCarthy photographed the coverage of Saturn by the Moon.
