Space Shuttle Photographed In Front Of Sun

At first glance it appears like a giant tennis ball with a speck of dirt. But this extraordinary image, taken by an amateur astronomer, shows the Space Shuttle Atlantis and the Hubble

Telescope passing in front of the sun. It is the first time they have been photographed together making a 'solar transit' and came several minutes before Atlantis made contact with the telescope and attached to it. The shuttle has been sent up to do repairs on the Hubble for the fifth and final time. Astronauts on board are replacing the Wide Field Camera 2 and NASA hopes to get another five to 10 years of dazzling views of the cosmos from Hubble as a result of the upgrades. NASA are launching the James Webb Space Telescope in 2014, which will replace Hubble once it becomes defunct. The stunning images were taken by Thierry Legault, an engineer famed for taking pictures of space from his back garden in Paris.These images, however, were taken from Florida, 60 miles south of the Kennedy Space Centre from where the Space Shuttle blasted off on Tuesday. (Daily Mail)