NASA astronaut and current International Space Station inhabitant Matthew Dominick has been sharing with his follows on X (formerly Twitter) lots of cool photos and videos of inside and outside the orbital outpost.
Dominick has just revealed that he’s about to team up with fellow NASA astronaut and photographer extraordinaire Don Pettit to chat about astrophotography in low-Earth orbit.
You can catch the event on X on Wednesday, July 24, at 4:05 p.m. ET, and they’re taking questions, too.
An X Space… from space?!@DominickMatthew joins us from the @Space_Station to talk with @Astro_Pettit about astrophotography in low Earth orbit. We're taking your questions—join us Wednesday, July 24 at 4:05pm ET! https://t.co/6Ii2Au1Iv8
— NASA (@NASA) July 22, 2024
At 69, Pettit is currently NASA’s oldest active astronaut and is set to make his fourth trip to orbit in September. Over his illustrious career, Pettit has built a solid reputation for producing stunning images from space, and so he’s sure to have plenty of fascinating tidbits to share during Wednesday’s event.
Dominick pointed out that soon after he was selected to be an astronaut, Pettit was assigned as his mentor and ended up sharing a lot of his photography skills with Dominick ahead of his first trip to the ISS in a mission that began in March.
Most astronauts who visit the ISS might snap a few shots during their stay, but Pettit always takes things to another level during his stays, with his creativity and keen eye often producing incredible results.
Take this effort showing star trails, Earth, and a part of the ISS:
Star trails show the passage of time, and when captured from space can reveal unique orbital phenomena.
This photo documents the airglow of the atmosphere which separates streaking city lights from the arcing stars of deep space. @Space_Station in foreground. pic.twitter.com/QAthb4UYaC
— Don Pettit (@astro_Pettit) October 21, 2023
And this one taken from inside the station’s seven-window Cupola module:
Reflecting on reflections: working in the @Space_Station Cupola setting up for a night pass of imagery while using a flashlight. I captured this moment as a self portrait.
Nikon D3s, 8mm fisheye, f2.8, 1/10th sec, ISO 1600, Expedition 30, 2012 pic.twitter.com/ByTd7y8cin
— Don Pettit (@astro_Pettit) June 15, 2024
Some of Pettit’s images, like these ones, have a scientific angle to them, too:
— Don Pettit (@astro_Pettit) April 15, 2024
Here’s a long exposure from the ISS using a fisheye lens. Pettit notes that the image shows four small lines made by cosmic rays striking the camera sensor:
Time exposure from the @Space_Station. This is a fisheye view with city lights abruptly stopping at a shoreline, like melting gold.
If you look closely, there are 4 small lines made by cosmic rays striking the camera sensor. I see about one such streak every 8-12K photos. pic.twitter.com/KFzKaWfLzg
— Don Pettit (@astro_Pettit) June 17, 2023
Here’s Earth reflected in the lens of a Nikon D3s that Pettit used to capture many of his images:
I took this photo of a Nikon D3s, with 8mm f2.8 fisheye lens with a view of Earth through the @Space_Station's cupola window reflected in the lens on Expedition 30.
The tools astronauts use to document our experiences are just as important as any other! pic.twitter.com/HjYniVIfKm
— Don Pettit (@astro_Pettit) October 12, 2023
And finally, here’s the man himself, handling many of the cameras that are kept on the ISS:
Juggling with cameras aboard @Space_Station!
I wanted to see how many cameras I could deal with at one time so I rounded up the usual suspects from the Cupola and filmed this time lapse sequence in the airlock. pic.twitter.com/PAv8kDuGeT
— Don Pettit (@astro_Pettit) November 24, 2023
With such a wonderful body of work already in the bag, we can’t wait to see what Pettit produces on his next mission later this year. In the meantime, be sure to check out his chat with Dominick on Wednesday.