International Space Station Transit of the Sun, 2nd January 2012

[ejwwest]

This stack of 11 shots of the International Space Station transiting the sun was taken at Houghton, Test Valley, Hampshire at 1210 on 2nd January 2012. It was taken with a Canon 40D with a 100-400mm zoom lens and 2x extender (focal length 800mm). ISO 800, 1/1000s exposures at f/11.

A Thousand Oaks filter was used.

[Montana]

Excellent work! I know how hard this is, out of 4 tries I only managed it once (damn those clouds!). You were dead on centreline too, did you have to travel or were you just lucky?

Fabulous work, well done!

Regards

Alexandra

[markt]

Brilliant capture indeed!

[ejwwest]

I had to travel about 10 miles. I have made quite a few attempts (see: International Space Station - a set on Flickr ) and all required traveling except one when I could get it in my EdgeHD 925 in my garden. It's either cloudy or on one occasion the focus ring on my zoom lens slipped a minute before transit and I had to hastily refocus (badly!).

This time most things were about right, but the exposure could have been better. I couldn't shoot in RAW as the buffer would have filled too quickly.

It is surprising how frequently it does transit the sun from near any location (at least in Southern UK). Usually a couple of times every 2-4 months within a 10-30 mile drive.