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File:International Space Station star trails - JSC2012E039800.jpg

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Summary

Description
English: Star trail composite image created by International Space Station Expedition 30 crew member Don Pettit using images ISS030E171842 through ISS030E171889.


Expedition 30 and Expedition 31 Flight Engineer Don Pettit provided information 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."

The image includes many natural and artificial lights that astronauts see while passing over the night side of Earth. On the ground, stationary features like cities appear as pale yellow-white streaks.

Looking toward the horizon, thunderstorms dot the landscape. Many of the compiled frames captured bright white lightning flashes. Above the horizon, a faint green-yellow phenomenon called airglow hugs the upper atmosphere. Look carefully at the large version of this image for at least one streak of light that is not aligned with all the others. That is a satellite. Additional info from this source.

The camera for these shots is "mounted on a bracket in the Cupola" [1].
Date
Source NASA JSC Flickr account
Author NASA/Don Pettit
This image or video was catalogued by Johnson Space Center of the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) under Photo ID: JSC2012E039800.

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Assessment

Picture of the year
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This file was a finalist in Picture of the Year 2021.
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This image was selected as picture of the day on Vietnamese Wikipedia for 10 October 2023.

Licensing

Public domain This file is in the public domain in the United States because it was solely created by NASA. NASA copyright policy states that "NASA material is not protected by copyright unless noted". (See Template:PD-USGov, NASA copyright policy page or JPL Image Use Policy.)
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Captions

Star trails and light-on-Earth trails composite image created by International Space Station Expedition 30 crew member Don Pettit

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5 April 2012

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Date/TimeThumbnailDimensionsUserComment
current15:37, 8 October 2012Thumbnail for version as of 15:37, 8 October 20124,126 × 2,746 (1.62 MB)SpideogUser created page with UploadWizard

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