ISS transit over the moon
Taken by Marco Langbroek on February 9, 2014 @
Leiden, the Netherlands
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Camera Used: Canon Canon EOS 60D
Exposure Time: 1/400
Aperture: f/inf
ISO: 320
Date Taken: 2014:02:10 12:06:28
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Details:
This image is a composite of 3 images out of a series taken in rapid succession on the evening of 2014 Feb 9 near 22:38:29 UT (23:38:29 local time). It shows the International Space Station ISS transiting in front of the moon. ISS was not illuminated by the sun at that time, and hence is a dark silhouet. Taken with a Celestron C6 and a Canon EOS 60D in the primary focus of the telescope. 1/400th exposure, ISO 320.
There was a strong wind and the seeing was extremely bad. While focussing I could see "waves" distorting the lunar images, as if the moon was reflected on a water surface. This has degraded the image sharpness somewhat. Still, some structure is visible in the ISS, notably the solar panels.
It is important to prepare well for this kind of event. I had downloaded the latest ISS orbital elements from Space-Track ("NORAD") that evening, and with these had made an updated prediction and projected track over the lunar surface in Heavensat and Guide. With the telescope aimed at the moon and focussed, it was a matter of waiting for the big moment suprème. Two seconds before the calculated transit time I started a several second rapid burst of photographs (the EOS 60D makes 5.3 frames/second). Three images showed the ISS silhouet in front of the moon.
Waiting for this transit to happen was quite tense however, because of the sky conditions. Partial cloud cover came in during the minutes before the transit. Luckily, the moon was in a clear gap as the transit happened!
Photographer's website:
http://sattrackcam.blogspot.com
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