Artemis 2
Taken by Dennis Simmons on April 6, 2026 @
Brisbane, Australia
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Details:
Although cloud was forecast for the time that Artemis 2 would clear the treetops in our back garden in Brisbane, I decided to set up to see if I could record this Lunar Mission now over 342,000kms from Earth.
I captured 6 sets of images, but 4 were ruined by clouds. Luckily I had a 19 Frame Set Tracked at the Custom Rate of Artemis 2 and a 15 Frame Set tracked at the Sidereal Rate, showing the trail of Artemis 2 against the background stars.
Celestron C11 F10 Edge HD, ASI 2600 MM Pro Camera (0.549 arcsec/pixel), Paramount MX+ Mount.
Using The Sky X Pro, I performed two downloads to plot the position of Artemis 2 in the program so I could slew to it.
JPL Horizons Ephemeris which I used to create a Sky Database (SDB) to plot on the Sky Chart at 30 minute intervals.
The 2 Line TLE from CelesTrak which I imported via the” Input Satellite from File” dialogue in TSX.
After plotting these two positions, I noticed they were separated by approx. 12 arcmin. Hmm, which one to choose to Slew to with the Paramount MX+?
I chose the JPL plotted position (turned out to be most accurate) but the 2LE Artemis 2 Plot to “Set Custom Tracking Rate” in TSX so the Paramount MX+ would track at the custom rate of the Space Mission, and not the Sidereal Rate.
I also recorded a 6-panel mosaic of the Moon and located the region where Apollo 11 landed, identifying the region of the Apollo 11, Surveyor 5 and Ranger 8 missions.
I managed to resolve the 3 small craterlets named after the Apollo 11 Astronauts: Commander Neil Armstrong, Lunar Module Pilot Buzz Aldrin, and Command Module Pilot Michael Collins.
It is amazing that in that distant Artemis Capsule, that tiny dot of light, there are 4 human beings on their way to the Moon and back.
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