Photo credit: Andrew McCarthy
Astrophotographer Andrew McCarthy snagged a “once-in-a-lifetime gem” on Sunday when the International Space Station (ISS) glided across the Sun, perfectly timed with a dramatic solar flare bursting from the star’s surface. “I start with one photo as my ‘base’ and layer in stacked versions of the Sun and ISS to cut noise and boost clarity,” he posted on X.
McCarthy shared with PetaPixel that this is hands-down “the coolest solar transit pic I’ve ever snapped,” with the solar flare—a wild, unpredictable surge of energy and light—adding the “perfect cherry on top.” It might even be the only shot out there catching the ISS and a flare together in one frame. To nail this image, McCarthy trekked out to the heart of the desert, hunting the ideal angle to catch the ISS crossing the Sun. His camera’s thermometer hit a scorching 129°F (54°C), turning the shoot into a sweaty ordeal.
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“I braved heatstroke out there during an extreme heat alert,” he recounts. “I packed a bunch of ice packs to keep my computers and gear cool, ran thermoelectric coolers on my cameras, and hauled a whole cooler of water—which I ended up chugging every drop!” He wielded an Espirit 150 telescope and an Apollo-M Max to freeze the ISS transit—home to seven astronauts right now. The telescope’s tweaked for safe Sun shots, and though he used other cameras and scopes to catch the event, the star image came from the Espirit.
Catching the ISS transiting the Sun takes serious planning. Photographers need to pin down the exact date, time, and spot where it’ll happen, since the ISS blocks the Sun for less than a second. Tools like the ISS Transit Finder are a lifesaver. Usually, they’ll fire off shots in high burst mode a second before the transit to avoid missing it.
But McCarthy’s no rookie at these cosmic stunts; he’s previously stitched together a 400-megapixel Sun mosaic from 100,000 shots, snapped a razor-sharp Andromeda Galaxy, and caught the ISS passing the Moon. He’s dubbed this piece Kardashev Dreams, calling it “a nod to our civilization’s early steps forward.” It’s now up for grabs as a limited-edition print on his website.
