Space Station, Solar Prominences, Sun

Explanation: That's no sunspot. It's the International Space Station (ISS) caught passing in front of the Sun. Sunspot s, individually, have a dark central umbra , a lighter surrounding penumbra , and no Dragon capsules attached . By contrast, the ISS is a complex and multi-spired mechanism, one of the largest and most complicated spacecraft ever created by humanity . Also, sunspots circle the Sun , whereas the ISS orbits the Earth . Transiting the Sun is not very unusual for the ISS , which orbits the Earth about every 90 minutes, but getting one's location, timing and equipment just right for a great image is rare. The featured picture combined three images all taken from the same location and at nearly the same time. One image -- overexposed -- captured the faint prominence s seen across the top of the Sun, a second image -- underexposed -- captured the complex texture of the Sun's chromosphere , while the third image -- the hardest to get -- captured the space station as it shot across the Sun in a fraction of a second. Close inspection of the space station's silhouette even reveals a docked Dragon Crew capsule .