As sky watchers gathered around the world to see the August 2026 solar eclipse this week, at least one observer captured a surprise cameo appearance by something in Earth’s orbit.
Fortunately, that observer was also armed with a telescope and a camera, allowing them to capture the moment a spacecraft and its crew of seven passed directly in front of the Sun as it was partially eclipsed by the Moon during Wednesday’s solar eclipse.
Moving at roughly five miles per second, the International Space Station (ISS) was captured by Joel Kowsky, a photographer and photo editor based at NASA’s Headquarters in Washington, DC, who was observing Wednesday’s eclipse near Hodgdon, Maine.
Although only a partial eclipse was visible from the northeastern United States, with the full solar eclipse only visible from parts of Europe during the August 12 event, Kowsky’s photo captures the Sun draped in light cloud cover as its upper portion is obscured by the passing Moon, creating a striking backdrop for an appearance by the ISS.
Presently, the station’s seven-member Expedition 75 crew consists of NASA astronauts Jessica Meir, Anil Menon, and Jack Hathaway, as well as European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot and Roscosmos cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov, Andrey Fedyaev, and Anna Kikina.
Kowsky’s image has emerged as one of the most memorable from this week’s solar eclipse. The path of totality was observed as it swept over portions of Greenland, Iceland, northern Russia, the Atlantic Ocean, Spain, and a small corner of Portugal on Wednesday.
Although prime viewing for the celestial event was occurring across the Atlantic, observers in other regions, including parts of the United States, Canada, and northwestern Africa, were still treated to a partial eclipse.
As Kowsky watched from Maine, the ISS transit provided another notable addition to the event, allowing a rare view of Earth’s international orbital outpost between observers on Earth and the partially obscured Sun.
Additional NASA imagery of this week’s solar eclipse can be found on NASA’s Eclipse Gallery page, and a complete replay of the entire event as it happened, complete with a view of the eclipse during full coverage as seen from San Millán de los Caballeros, Spain, is available on NASA’s official YouTube channel.
Micah Hanks is the Editor-in-Chief and Co-Founder of The Debrief. A longtime reporter on science, defense, and technology with a focus on space and astronomy, he can be reached at micah@thedebrief.org. Follow him on X @MicahHanks, and at micahhanks.com.