Directly overhead - the ISS at 426km distance

[Ludd]

Last night the ISS went directly overhead through Draco, as seen from my garden.  I shot 165 frames with a canon 7d2 attached to an 8" SCT which I slewed by hand, trying to keep the ISS close to the crosshairs in the finder.  63 frames had the ISS in them, and I made this gif.  I also tweaked the levels a bit in one frame to show the overall structure a bit better.

 

Oh, and just in case anyone else was watching the sky just before this, did anyone see that bright (like Vega) object moving from NNW to SSE, much faster than a usual satellite?

Edited July 21, 2021 by Ludd

[7170]

I have to say I love to these these sorts of images of the ISS, so thank you for sharing. I know how hard it is to keep within the crosshairs and the excitement ahead of reviewing the resulting video in the hope some frames were on the money. I also personally know the disappointment when ever frame missed the target, it is harder to do than many people realise.

Good work! 

[Felias]

Amazing! I saw the ISS during my nights out the past weekend, but imaging it is beyond my equipment and ability.

[tomato]

Great capture, following it by hand must be quite a challenge.

[Alan White]

Wonderful stuff.
My Astro Club was discussing tracking the ISS only yesterday.
I have shared this thread link with them.

[Davey-T]

Well done, I wonder if the newly fitted solar panels are brighter than the old ones.

Dave

[Kon]

Very nice details. Is the gif from frames in a sequence or did you just add your best ones? What capture settings did you use?

[Ludd]

31 minutes ago, Kon said:

Very nice details. Is the gif from frames in a sequence or did you just add your best ones? What capture settings did you use?

Thanks Kon.  This was all shot at 1/1000s at ISO 1600, with a 2x teleconverter on the camera to give an effective focal length of 4 metres.

I ran all 165 shots through PIPP to generate an AVI with the ISS centred in each frame it features in, and then converted it to a gif in VirtualDub.  So PIPP automatically discarded the blank frames, and I just removed one very blurred frame manually.

 

[Ludd]

Just to add, that bright fast satellite has just gone over again!  Brighter than Vega, twice the speed of the ISS. 

[Ludd]

Had another go last night, upped the ISO and dropped the exposure.  Not quite sharp enough.   I dispensed with the 2x teleconverter and I think that may account for some of the lack of detail.

Edited July 23, 2021 by Ludd

[Kon]

7 hours ago, Ludd said:

Had another go last night, upped the ISO and dropped the exposure.  Not quite sharp enough.   I dispensed with the 2x teleconverter and I think that may account for some of the lack of detail.

Nice capture again. It seems your first capture had more sharp frames. I wonder if it is also the fact that it was almost overhead whereas this one seems more sideways, less reflective material? With my DSLR, I found that using the continuous shutter mode to work the best.

[MKHACHFE]

I'm always amazed by images of the ISS like this and have no advice to offer as this is far too advanced for my AP level.

Why am I posting then? Just to say WOW. Awesome work. Colour me impressed mate. 

😀👍