The moment the ISS station flew over the Sun.

NASA shares a beautiful picture depicting the small shadow of the ISS station in contrast to the giant surface of the Sun.

The composite image captures the moment the International Space Station (ISS) flies between Earth and Sun of photographer Rainee Colacurcio, which NASA voted as a beautiful Astronomical Picture of the day. Although ISS is closer to Earth, the orbit lab still looks extremely small in front of the massive surface of the Sun in the photographic background.

The composite picture was taken from the ground by photographer Rainee Colacurcio.(Photo: NASA).

"It's not the Sunspot . It's the International Space Station (ISS) flying over in front of the Sun, " Colacurcio explained. "Sunspot has a central dark shade and a half-dark area surrounded by brighter colors and no solar cells. In contrast, ISS is a complex machine with many roof peaks, one of the apparatuses. The largest and most complex man ever created, " Colacurcio said.

According to Colacurcio, passing before the Sun is not too rare for ISS stations to fly around the Earth every 90 minutes. But very few people can take the time and prepare the right equipment to create a great photo.

In fact, NASA's image is a combination of two photographs, one shot of the ISS station passing through the front of the Sun and another at the same time recording the surface of the Sun. The composite photo also shows that the Sun lacks dark spots. These are dark patches that appear temporarily on the Sun's surface and indicate areas with relatively lower temperatures around because magnetic lines affect heat convection. The number of black streaks at each time is very different according to the 11-year period of the Sun.

"Black streaks are rarely seen in the Sun since the beginning of the minimum period, during which the Sun works very little. For many reasons that researchers do not understand, the number of black streaks appears at extreme stages. Past and present pee is low to abnormal levels , " explained Colacurcio.