Mindbending Moonset: Atmospheric Refraction | International Space Station

Mindbending Moonset: Atmospheric Refraction | International Space Station

Expedition 73 flight engineer and NASA astronaut Zena Cardman: "Wild mirage of moonset as viewed from the International Space Station. The distortion and colors are caused by atmospheric refraction and Rayleigh scattering (and I think the ripples are likely from some temperature inversions? I’ll let the Internet correct me . . . )."

"Getting this shot as I envisioned became my white whale for more than a week. The challenge was mostly timing—finding, focusing, and tracking with a long, handheld lens during the brief few minutes we can see the Moon each orbit, then leading and stabilizing the framing on a soft horizon too dark to see."

"We get sixteen moonsets every day, so I spent a lot of time with this obsession. What a relief to finally catch it. 400mm plus 1.4x and 2x converter, 1/50s, f/22, ISO 2000, luck, and stubbornness."

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Expedition 73 Crew

Station Commander: Sergey Ryzhikov (Roscosmos)

JAXA Flight Engineer (Japan): Kimiya Yui

Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers: Alexey Zubritskiy, Oleg Platonov

NASA Flight Engineers: Jonny Kim, Zena Cardman, Mike Fincke

An international partnership of space agencies provides and operates the elements of the International Space Station (ISS). The principals are the space agencies of the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada.

Credits: NASA's Johnson Space Center, Z. Cardman

Duration: 25 seconds 

Release Date: Sept. 9, 2025

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