Transit of the Sun by the Chinese Space Station

Photographer: Sona Shahani ShuklaSummary Author: Sona Shahani Shukla

The photo above shows the Chinese Space Station (CSS), known as Tiangong, transiting the solar disk. I made this observation from my home in New Delhi, India on April 30, 2024. I used the ISS transit finder website to find the current transits. This particular transit was nearly over my house, near the center line path. It turns out that the angular size of CSS (considering how small it is even compared to the ISS) was good enough to be visible across the solar surface. The transit only lasted 0.49 seconds!

At first, I wasn’t even sure if I had captured the tiny CSS, since nothing was seen on the camera screen. Then I realized that the transit was actually caught -- the CSS showed up in 24 frames. After many failures at capturing various transits, I'm pleased to say that this was my first successful attempt. Note that a portion of sunspot region AR3654 is shown at bottom.

Photo Details: ISO 500; 1/2000 seconds exposure; Processed in PIPP (extracted 6900 frames, 24 frames had the CSS transit); PS to stack. Equipment used: 8" Skywatcher Flextube Dobsonian (Manual) telescope; Nikon D5600 camera with Baader MakIII CC lens.

New Delhi, India Coordinates: 28.6139, 77.2088

Related Links:ISS Transit of the Sun Observed from Sardinia, ItalyUnderstanding Planet Transits