Science & Space
APOD: 2026 September 22 – Chance Triple Alignment: Plane, Space Station, Sun
First reported Source: NASA News ReleasesLast editorial activity
Full credit
File:A Treasure Chest in the Carina Nebula (APOD 2026-09-17).jpg / NASA / A Treasure Chest in the Carina Nebula / Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain / https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_Treasure_Chest_in_the_Carina_Nebula_(APOD_2026-09-17).jpgSource page.jpg){kind=link}
What happened
Just as this exposure was taking place in June, from Prasek in the Czech Republic , an airplane began its own miniature partial eclipse . Sunspots typically last for weeks and were expected, since these spots were seen previously.
This is because the featured picture was planned with sub-second timing to record the iconic structure passing before the Sun . The photographer estimates that the chance of any random Sun image containing silhouettes of both a space station and an airplane, from that location, is about 30 million to one. APOD’s main NASA site is moving : From apod.nasa.gov to science.nasa.gov/apod Tomorrow’s picture: open space Date September 22, 2026 Credit & Copyright Petr Horalek / Inst.
Sources & evidence
- NASA News Releases Primary / official
APOD: 2026 September 22 – Chance Triple Alignment: Plane, Space Station, Sun ↗
https://science.nasa.gov/image-article/apod-2026-september-22-chance-triple-alignment-plane-space-station-sun/