A Rare Photograph Captures ISS Moving Between Jupiter and Saturn During the Great Conjunction

Image © Jason De Freitas, shared with permission

On December 22, Jupiter and Saturn appeared closer together in the sky than they have since March 4, 1226. The nearly 800-year event is known as the Great Conjunction, which occurs to some extent every two decades. In true 2020 fashion, though, this year’s meeting was the most acute in centuries.

Like others around the globe, photographer Jason De Freitas shot the event, although his image is particularly fortuitous because it frames the International Space Station flying between the glowing planets. De Freitas traveled about an hour away from his home in New South Wales to Jellore Lookout, where he used a variety of tracking equipment to align and snap the 10-second exposure photograph.

Purchase a print of the singular sighting on De Freitas’s site, and check out the video below to dive further into his process. You can follow his astrophotography on Instagram. (via Peta Pixel)