International Space Station moon transit (04/09/23)

[Kon]

I have finally managed to get an ISS moon transit this morning. Not the highest resolution as I had to use my Nikon D3200 to fit the full moon and I even missed some at the bottom as ISS was about to pass. I am still very happy to have got it. 8" Dob, manual, Nikon D3200 iso 400 and 1/4000s.

Edited September 4, 2023 by Kon

[Swoop1]

Nice one Kon.

A transit is on my bucket list to capture.

[Mandy D]

@Kon Impressive! That will have been a lot of clattering from the mirror on the D3200!

When I started looking into capturing an ISS lunar transit, I found one about a mile from home the following day! It was cloudy. I've not bothered looking since, but now I am inspired to try again.

[Kon]

1 hour ago, Swoop1 said:

Nice one Kon.

A transit is on my bucket list to capture.

Thanks. Yes I have been waiting over 2 years for a transit that has not been ruined by clouds. 

[Kon]

1 hour ago, Mandy D said:

@Kon Impressive! That will have been a lot of clattering from the mirror on the D3200!

When I started looking into capturing an ISS lunar transit, I found one about a mile from home the following day! It was cloudy. I've not bothered looking since, but now I am inspired to try again.

Thanks Mandy. I am glad to have got it but I would love to try with my asi next time as I know I can get really nice images of ISS with it. I should have mentioned I was in movie mode so not much clicking 😁.

[Mandy D]

40 minutes ago, Kon said:

Thanks Mandy. I am glad to have got it but I would love to try with my asi next time as I know I can get really nice images of ISS with it. I should have mentioned I was in movie mode so not much clicking 😁.

Of course! I should have realised that, as the D3200 can only manage about 4 frames per second in still mode and the transit time is normally around 0.5 seconds, so you'd have got about 2 frames at most. I really must blow the cobwebs off my ASI 178MM and start shooting videos again.

Have you seen what Thierry Legault is up to with ISS transit imaging with his new Olympus OM-2? Not only does he capture the transit, but he puts the ISS dead centre on a large sunspot!

[Roy Foreman]

Really interesting to watch regardless of equipment used. Well done.

[Ibbo!]

Nice one Kon.

And thanks for reminding me to look I have one in the morning 4-35 so it looks like another all nighter.

[maw lod qan]

Amazing.

So I'm guessing, you know the time, get everything on focus, then start prior to that second it's going to transit?

And hope.

[Kon]

48 minutes ago, Mandy D said:

Of course! I should have realised that, as the D3200 can only manage about 4 frames per second in still mode and the transit time is normally around 0.5 seconds, so you'd have got about 2 frames at most. I really must blow the cobwebs off my ASI 178MM and start shooting videos again.

Have you seen what Thierry Legault is up to with ISS transit imaging with his new Olympus OM-2? Not only does he capture the transit, but he puts the ISS dead centre on a large sunspot!

Yes I have seen his work. My worry was that with the 200P and the small FOV of the asi I would miss it (I am all manual so quite easy for moon to drift of). I think a reducer would have been helpful. I will look into it as my capture of the ISS 2hrs later was really nice ( need to process the images to post later).

[Kon]

26 minutes ago, Ibbo! said:

Nice one Kon.

And thanks for reminding me to look I have one in the morning 4-35 so it looks like another all nighter.

Thanks Steve. I am done, my brain says no more 4 hr night sleeps. That's my pattern since Friday night. I hope you manage to get it.

[Kon]

8 minutes ago, maw lod qan said:

Amazing.

So I'm guessing, you know the time, get everything on focus, then start prior to that second it's going to transit?

And hope.

Thanks. Yes I have the transit time from here: https://transit-finder.com/

I started recording the video 1min beforehand  and 1 min after to be safe. ISS is pretty good with the times predicted to pass. I did a good high resolution imaging 2hrs later and it was spot on the time and trajectory.

[John]

Very interesting capture - nicely done 

I got it myself a couple of years ago but interestingly the ISS appeared as a bright spot back then. I guess it's illumination by the Sun caused it to be brighter than the lunar surface against which it appeared to transit ?

I only managed to get a couple of frames of it - it all happens so quickly !

Your capture is much, much better 🙂

Edited September 4, 2023 by John

[Space Cowboy]

Terrific job Kostas! You've earned a week off after this 👏 Love the animation.

[Kon]

34 minutes ago, Space Cowboy said:

Terrific job Kostas! You've earned a week off after this 👏 Love the animation.

Thanks Stuart. I have one more set of ISS  captures to process and I can sleep tight tonight.😆

[Kon]

51 minutes ago, John said:

Very interesting capture - nicely done 

I got it myself a couple of years ago but interestingly the ISS appeared as a bright spot back then. I guess it's illumination by the Sun caused it to be brighter than the lunar surface against which it appeared to transit ?

I only managed to get a couple of frames of it - it all happens so quickly !

Your capture is much, much better 🙂

Thanks John. In this pass ISS was in the shadow thus the dark body. I think the movie helped and then extract the frames.

The UK weather is not that cooperative for transits.

[Ibbo!]

1 hour ago, Kon said:

Thanks Steve. I am done, my brain says no more 4 hr night sleeps. That's my pattern since Friday night. I hope you manage to get it.

I'm not firing on all cylinders as I did a CH4 test this am and used the colour cam rather than the mono 🥱

[Kon]

15 minutes ago, Ibbo! said:

I'm not firing on all cylinders as I did a CH4 test this am and used the colour cam rather than the mono 🥱

For methane it should not matter as long as the colour has good IR sensitivity as your mono. Looking forward to your posts.

[Mandy D]

2 hours ago, Kon said:

Yes I have seen his work. My worry was that with the 200P and the small FOV of the asi I would miss it (I am all manual so quite easy for moon to drift of). I think a reducer would have been helpful. I will look into it as my capture of the ISS 2hrs later was really nice ( need to process the images to post later).

I'm looking forward to seeing those images.

I'm up against the same problem with my ASI 178MM in the 200P. Right now, I'm trying to set it up with an Evoguide 50ED (242 mm FL), which I reckon is a great match for the full lunar and solar discs. I've just run a quick calc and the 178MM on the 50ED is close to the same FOV as the D800 on the 200P. Your sensor is quite a bit smaller than the 178, but I reckon you can just about fit the full disc on the short side with a 50ED and there is a field flattener / focal reducer that I am looking into that would help.

Thanks for posting the transit finder link, as I'd lost that, so it saves me looking for it again. This is my Moon image from this morning, also through a 200P, but with the D800.

https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/413351-77-waning-moon-in-daylight/#comment-4410173

 

[Kon]

2 minutes ago, Mandy D said:

I'm looking forward to seeing those images.

I'm up against the same problem with my ASI 178MM in the 200P. Right now, I'm trying to set it up with an Evoguide 50ED (242 mm FL), which I reckon is a great match for the full lunar and solar discs. I've just run a quick calc and the 178MM on the 50ED is close to the same FOV as the D800 on the 200P. Your sensor is quite a bit smaller than the 178, but I reckon you can just about fit the full disc on the short side with a 50ED and there is a field flattener / focal reducer that I am looking into that would help.

Thanks for posting the transit finder link, as I'd lost that, so it saves me looking for it again. This is my Moon image from this morning, also through a 200P, but with the D800.

https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/413351-77-waning-moon-in-daylight/#comment-4410173

 

I hadn't used my Niko for 2 years now as I use my asi462 for all my captures. Transits are not that often but a reducer might be handy to have for another event. I will take a look at your moon.

[morimarty]

Absolutely superb Kostas. You've certainly not lost your touch with the Iss.

[Kon]

2 hours ago, morimarty said:

Absolutely superb Kostas. You've certainly not lost your touch with the Iss.

Thanks. I always have a soft spot for ISS. I need to find the time to process a capture from earlier this week.