The ISS rotates around the earth every 90 minutes, so before Don Pettit brought a custom built astrophotography rig up there this picture would have been impossible to take.

It's weird that Eric Burger neglected to put this picture into perspective for people who aren't 100% up to date on their space news.

[–] admin@science.social 2 points 1 day ago

@mipadaitu@lemmy.world Thank you for linking to this!

[–] kibiz0r@midwest.social 14 points 2 days ago

I reflexively hated the light streaks at first, but then I thought about it and realized I’ve never seen the speed of ISS orbit represented in a photo before and that’s kinda cool, especially juxtaposed with the Milky Way detail that was only possible with the very same long exposure that produce the streaks.

Idk. Space usually looks pretty still and tranquil, so having that and a sense of fast movement in the same shot is pretty cool I guess.

“Best ever” though? Hell, what does that even mean? It’s a cool photo, let’s just leave it at that.

[–] AwesomeLowlander@sh.itjust.works 11 points 2 days ago (1 children)

best photo from space—ever

That's really subjective.

[–] admin@science.social 1 points 2 days ago

@AwesomeLowlander@sh.itjust.works Extremely subjective but that's the title :P

[–] masterofn001@lemmy.ca 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

This is aliens, right?

[–] turmacar@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Starlink sats

[–] masterofn001@lemmy.ca 3 points 1 day ago

Musk. Ruining politics, social media, astronomy, and astrophotography simultaneously.

[–] NineMileTower@lemmy.world 11 points 2 days ago

That's highly debatable

[–] Tedesche@lemmy.world 3 points 2 days ago

Uhm...I'ma have to disagree on that.

[–] whostosay@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Obviously fake, the earth should be flat in this photo.

[–] Hule@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

That orange line is the wall around it, man!

[–] whostosay@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

Yeah, the only thing we were wrong about was the ice wall, it turns out it's an orange ice wall

[–] Glasgow@lemmy.ml 2 points 2 days ago

What a dumbass it’s not even in focus.

[–] danielbowmaniel@mastodon.sdf.org 1 points 2 days ago

@admin @science@lemmy.world @science@beehaw.org @space

WOW! Amazing. Thank you for the explainer.

[–] salvaria@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

For anyone else looking for more info

[–] admin@science.social 1 points 2 days ago

@salvaria@lemmy.blahaj.zone Yep! Cheers

[–] Scio@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Link to the quoted article: https://arstechnica.com/space/2025/01/a-nasa-astronaut-may-have-just-taken-the-best-photo-from-space-ever/

[–] Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works 5 points 2 days ago

"In this image, one can see the core of the Milky Way galaxy, zodiacal light (sunlight diffused by interplanetary dust), streaks of SpaceX Starlink satellites, individual stars, an edge-on view of the atmosphere that appears in burnt umber due to hydroxide emissions, a near-sunrise just over the horizon, and nighttime cities appearing as streaks."

[–] danielbowmaniel@mastodon.sdf.org 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

@admin @science@lemmy.world @science@beehaw.org @space

What the hell IS that?

[–] IrritableOcelot@beehaw.org 2 points 2 days ago

A long enough exposure to capture the movement of the earth underneath, without being long enough for the perspective on the stars to change.

tl; dr: one helluva exercise in juuuust the right exposure length.