An astrophotographer has paid a special birthday tribute to space pioneer Buzz Aldrin by staying up all night to capture the moment that the International Space Station passed across the very spot that the first man walked on the moon.

Andrew McCarthy, who enthrals thousands of people with his spectacular posts on his @Cosmic_Background Instagram page, took the giant pin-sharp image overnight.

The huge high-resolution photograph allows you to zoom in in detail to view the space station passing the moon, with the first footprint of Neil Armstrong from that legendary mission positioned directly behind.

"The ISS is what I would consider the pinnacle of human engineering, and Apollo 11 was the pinnacle of human exploration. So having them both in the same spot seems poetic, and on the eve of Buzz Aldrin's 92nd birthday too.

"To capture the image I had to plan it in advance, and have my position precisely calculated. If I moved across the street the ISS would have missed the spot.

"In fact, I had to adjust my travel plans because the station telemetry changed last week

"Just to make sure that I could catch it," said Andrew, who set up his telescope in the Arizona desert on January 20 to achieve the stunning shot.

He added: "This is the clearest transit I’ve captured so far! I got lucky with the weather. The clouds cleared just in time, and their moisture helped stabilise the atmosphere so the station came in nice and clear."

Andrew's star gazing efforts often take hours to get right, and in his downtime, he takes out his binoculars and enjoys the skies, which are unspoiled by artificial light out in the desert.

But on this particular photographic mission, some wild coyotes surrounded Andrew's remote observatory.

"Occasionally they would approach to see what I was doing and then scamper off like cowards, they did make an awful racket though." He said.

Andrew added: "I grew up learning about the moon landings, and it was fascinating to me.

"All of my toys when I was a kid were space-themed, and when I’d play I’d always pretend I was landing on the moon. I read countless books about it too.

"As I grew older the reality of the accomplishment had more of an impact on me, as I read about the engineering and political challenges we faced making the missions happen.

"It helps give me perspective on why we haven’t been back, and the obstacles we need to overcome to continue to explore the worlds beyond Earth."

An astrophotographer has paid a special birthday tribute to space pioneer Buzz Aldrin by staying up all night to capture the moment that the International Space Station passed across the very spot that the first man walked on the moon.

Andrew McCarthy, who enthrals thousands of people with his spectacular posts on his @Cosmic_Background Instagram page, took the giant pin sharp image overnight.

The huge high resolution photograph allows you to zoom in pin sharp detail to view the space station passing the moon, with the first footprint of Neil Armstrong from that legendary mission positioned directly behind.

"The ISS is what I would consider the pinnacle of human engineering, and Apollo 11 was the pinnacle of human exploration. So having them both in the same spot seems poetic, and on the eve of Buzz Aldrin's 92nd birthday too.

"To capture the image I had to plan it in advance, and have my position precisely calculated. If I moved across the street the ISS would have missed the spot.

"In fact, I had to adjust my travel plans because the station telemetry changed last week

"Just to make sure that I could catch it." Said Andrew, who set up his telescope in the Arizona desert last night to achieve the stunning shot.

He added: "This is the clearest transit I’ve captured so far! I got lucky with the weather. The clouds cleared just in time, and their moisture helped stabilise the atmosphere so the station came in nice and clear."

Andrew's star gazing efforts often take hours to get right, and in his down time he takes out his binoculars and enjoys the skies, which are unspoiled by artificial light out in the desert.

But on this particular photographic mission, some wild coyotes surrounded Andrew's remote observatory.

"Occasionally they would approach to see what I was doing and then scamper off like cowards, they did make an awful racket though." He said.

The first moon landing took place on July 21 1969, and Apollo 11 astronaut and mission commander Neil Armstrong uttered the iconic words 'One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind'.

Buzz Aldrin, who celebrates his 92nd birthday today, became the second man to walk on the moon nineteen minutes later.

Andrew added: "I grew up learning about the moon landings, and it was fascinating to me.

"All of my toys when I was a kid were space themed, and when I’d play I’d always pretend I was landing on the moon. I read countless books about it too.

"As I grew older the reality of the accomplishment had more of an impact on me, as I read about the engineering and political challenges we faced making the missions happen.

"It helps give me perspective on why we haven’t been back, and the obstacles we need to overcome to continue to explore the worlds beyond Earth."