An astronomer and astrophotographer captured the split second the international space station passed the moon from his Auckland on June 25.

Josh Kirkley, who is a teacher at the Stardome Observatory and Planetarium in Auckland, said the station’s flight path aligning with the moon was a “once in a lifetime” shot for him.

Kirkley said he has notifications set up on his phone to alert him to the ISS or bright satellites that will be visible from his location. When he received the notification around 6:30 pm, he had less than 10 minutes to check the station’s orbital path and lug his telescope and camera into his driveway in Onehunga.

“I work in astronomy so I am very aware how little this actually occurs. The last time this was captured appears to be in late 2017 by a NASA employee, and before that it is captured maybe once every two years or so,” Kirkley said.

“Funnily enough, you can verbally hear me gasp in the audio after the station zips across the frame, as I didn’t think I would actually capture it on camera.” Credit: Josh Kirkley via Storyful