Andrew McCarthy, an Arizona-based photographer, has captured a breathtaking image of the International Space Station (ISS) passing in front of the Sun, with vibrant solar flares erupting in the background. Taken from the Sonoran Desert, he named this photograph Kardashev Dreams to represent “our first steps to being a much greater civilisation.”
McCarthy described the photograph as one of his most cherished works. “While waiting for the ISS to transit the Sun, a sunspot group started flaring, leading to this once-in-a-lifetime shot,” he wrote on Instagram.
The image, which he named after Soviet astronomer Nikolai Kardashev – known for proposing the Kardashev Scale to measure a civilisation’s technological advancement – captures the ISS in sharp silhouette against the Sun’s fiery surface, with solar flares adding a dramatic flair.
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“I call the piece ‘Kardashev Dreams’, representing our first steps to being a much greater civilisation,” McCarthy added. The photographer revealed he faced extreme conditions in the Sonoran Desert, where temperatures soared to nearly 50°C, as indicated by his car’s thermometer.
To protect his equipment from overheating, he used ice packs and thermoelectric coolers to help keep the telescopes and computers from overheating.
Bonus shot from my latest capture of the ISS transiting the sun: One of the captured frames sat right on the limb against these background prominences.
The ISS is so iconic, I’m going to miss it when it’s gone. pic.twitter.com/2NhiB6n0fw
— Andrew McCarthy (@AJamesMcCarthy) June 30, 2025
In addition to the primary image, McCarthy shared a ‘bonus shot’, depicting the ISS positioned at the Sun’s edge, partially obscuring solar prominences – massive loops of plasma extending from the Sun’s surface. He also said he was surprised to see how much attention his pictures got and called them “one of my all time favorites!”
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(Image: AndrewMcCarthy)