How to I capture the ISS with my setup?

[Quetzalcoatl72]

I tried to capture it last night with my asi533 and askar 180 scope, I never got to actually see it in the image and I missed both passovers. It seems that they are doing a lot this week so It would be a good chance for me to practise and hopefully actually get it framed. I used SkyTrack but when I told it to track the ISS when I saw it in the sky it started to point at the ground. Everything was aligned as I was imaging andromeda between passes. How can I fix this and when I get to image It what camera/scope combo should I use?[asi533/asi462][ed80/rct 8" f8/askar 180]

[Kon]

I have successfully imaged it using a DSLR on prime focus and a Dob. The key thing was to follow it using the finder scope and keep it at the crosshairs. See my post earlier this year. It passes fast; I aimed for a transit of 4-6 minutes since it gives you enough time to frame it.

 

 

 

[Davey-T]

Tricky thing to track unless you've got a mount that you can enter the TLEs in that's capable of tracking it.

I find the best way is to look at it's track on Stellarium and select a star that it's passing close to and aim scope at that point then lie in wait for it and start imaging as it approaches, works about 50% of the time.

Scope selection is a trade off, longer focal length gets more detail but wider FOV gives more chance of catching it.

Dave

[Quetzalcoatl72]

13 minutes ago, Kon said:

I have successfully imaged it using a DSLR on prime focus and a Dob. The key thing was to follow it using the finder scope and keep it at the crosshairs. See my post earlier this year. It passes fast; I aimed for a transit of 4-6 minutes since it gives you enough time to frame it.

Cool! Are dobs not easier to control manually? I have a tough time with my eq6

 

[Quetzalcoatl72]

12 minutes ago, Davey-T said:

Tricky thing to track unless you've got a mount that you can enter the TLEs in that's capable of tracking it.

I find the best way is to look at it's track on Stellarium and select a star that it's passing close to and aim scope at that point then lie in wait for it and start imaging as it approaches, works about 50% of the time.

Scope selection is a trade off, longer focal length gets more detail but wider FOV gives more chance of catching it.

Dave

Could try that too, I've plenty of goes at it this week with the clear weather

[Quetzalcoatl72]

16 minutes ago, Davey-T said:

Scope selection is a trade off, longer focal length gets more detail but wider FOV gives more chance of catching it.

This could work, wish wat the station looked like here instead of a glowing white ball

[Quetzalcoatl72]

Also I have no idea how I would be capturing it, I guess sharpcap video would be needed with higher gain

[Davey-T]

2 minutes ago, Quetzalcoatl72 said:

Also I have no idea how I would be capturing it, I guess sharpcap video would be needed with higher gain

Looks like a very bright star, you could use Vega to approximate exposure settings or Jupiter when it rises.

Dave

[Quetzalcoatl72]

1 minute ago, Davey-T said:

Looks like a very bright star, you could use Vega to approximate exposure settings or Jupiter when it rises.

Dave

Focus too may be an issue, but I don't think so if I just focus on the star

[Davey-T]

Coming over now !

Dave

[Quetzalcoatl72]

5 minutes ago, Davey-T said:

Coming over now !

Dave

weyyy! not set up yet, I like to set up as soon as I see polaris, I got 3 chances tonight! I kinda want to look at other dso's too but not sure what to go for. Did andromeda got some nice images to stack when I can be bothered!