SpaceX Dragon and Falcon 9 stage seen with telescope as they passed over Europe

On Friday at Cape Canaveral, SpaceX launched a Dragon spacecraft on a cargo delivery mission to the International Space Station.  With a modest amateur telescope, astrophotographer Thierry Legault in Paris imaged the shape of the Dragon, including its two solar panels, as it passed over Paris:

(Check out Legault’s other amazing images of spacecraft in orbit. )

Ralf Vandbergh in Belgium could also make out the shape of the Falcon 9 second stage: Dragonlaunch_20140418.jpg (1076×601)

Find more about spacecraft watching in the HobbySpace Satellite Observing section.