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I did it! ISS

Vega

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Vega

Vega

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ISS taken with toucam pro II / 250px. I got hold of a mere 16 frames with the iss in it. At 10fps thats decidedly dreadful tracking :D Even tho I know this football pitch sized chunk of metal travels at 15,000 mph I was shocked to see it whiz past the screen in the blink of an eye (at a moment when I held the dobbo still). From other webcam images I've seen of this, I made sure my exposure time was fast so the station doesn't get burned out. Was well chuffed with the result, can clearly see the large orange solar panels facing East. This particular pass travelled low across my Southern sky, I cannot wait to try an overhead pass in the winter when it next comes round as I'd imagine it will be much easier to follow with the dob hardly needing to move it in azm.

iss.jpg

10fps

1/500 sec exposure time

Brightness/Gain/Hue (about halfway)

Thanks for looking

Vega

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Vega

Vega

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Well Arthur, someGreat job Vega. Can you offer any tips? Is it just aim using the finder and hope?

Kaptain Klevtsov

Thanks KK, the most common mistake seems to be over-exposing..1/500 sec seems to be the sweet spot, certainly no slower than 1/250. Your right in saying it's using the finder and hope.. that really is it. As for tips, take that little bit extra time on making sure the finder is super accurately aligned with the scope. Get your focusing bang on as best you can by using a not so bright star beforehand. Look up some of the brighter satellite passes on Heavens-Above (There will be plenty within the hour before an ISS pass) and do a practice run. Don't even think of trying to follow it on screen unless you have super powers and a robotic like arm! It's finderscope or nothing. The main thing is... don't give up during the pass... no-matter how far away from the crosshairs it seems, keep trying to get it centered. It only takes a couple seconds with it flying past those crosshairs and BANG you got 20 frames with the ISS in it. I thought my efforts were an absolute waste of time until I played back the movie file and saw it blip past the screen on two occasions giving me the futile 16 frames I needed to produce this image. This particular pass was not ideal as it didn't go 'overhead' I think it's maximum alt reached about 35 deg. An ideal pass would be one where it reaches the zenith. These passes tend to go in a straight line with no curve. Then you can orientate the tube so all you have to do is move it in alt rather than alt and azm. As you can imagine, moving the dob smoothly and constantly in azm is a real challenge (unless you got a posh dob with bearings rather than teflon pads) :evil:.

Andrew.. Yes I meant football pitch.. whhooooppss.. edited now :smiley:

Vega

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