ASTRO PHOTO

Photographer Captures Rare Alignment of International Space Station and Jupiter

Through meticulous orbital tracking and precise timing, a photographer successfully captured the ISS transiting directly past Jupiter.

2026-11-01

Captured from Burlington, Washington, a rare astrophotography achievement caught the International Space Station hurtling past the gas giant Jupiter.

Due to the cosmic coincidence that Jupiter is roughly 1.3 million times larger than the ISS while also being 1.3 million times farther away, both objects appeared with nearly identical angular sizes. The successful frame required months of transit path calculations and exact timing down to the second.