Capturing the STS 134 and ISS.

[hotspur]

Had a look on HA.looking at the final pass overs of the shuttle.I'd like to put some effort in to obtain a capture.

Tonight at 6.08 pm it goes over along with ISS at 6.10 pm near the constellation of Leo and Virgo.

I am thinking of using my 17-55 lens on scope tracking,lens at 17 mm,not sure what the best settings would be.Any thoughts?

Its not all that bright at -.05,but the ISS is going to be -2.9

On Saturday there is a very bright pass over approx 5.30 pm.I am sure this will be well enjoyed.

Cheers Chris

[iceman]

At that focal length you'll get a trail - if that's what you're after, then that's fine.

You don't really need tracking unless you want stationary stars in the background. The pass takes 2+ minutes so you'll get some star trailing if you don't put it on the mount.

But if you've got any trees or foreground in the scene, don't worry about the tracking, or that'll be blurred too.

[mithrandir]

Chris, at 17mm they will be dots. At 16mm (that's equivalent to 24mm on an APS-C camera) I find the Moon is just a large a dot.

If you were intending to track the stars and get trails of the ISS/STS it would probably work, but I'd go for a bit more focal length and close to maximum aperture. At 18:10 there might still be a bit of light in the sky, so long exposures aren't likely to do too well.

I saw Mike's reply and we seem to be pretty much in agreement.

Andrew

[StephenM]

I'll be giving this a go as well Chris, just using the camera on tripod. let's hope the weather co-operates!

Cheers,
Stephen

[hotspur]

Ok,thanks Chaps.

Still not sure what to do,I think one camera on tripod.How about a tight view at 200 mm using the 70-200 on mount,or at 135 mm.I notice tonight its close to Leo,so might try and frame Leo and take a smaller exp as possible,as it will be still a bit light.

The pass on Saturday should be quite bright,it goes near the pointers.

Cheers Chris

[StephenM]

It's looking cloudier and cloudier in Brisbane...

[steve000]

did anyone cap them. i saw them for about 2 seconds.


i swear im gonna change my job field and discover how to blow away clouds.


sorry but so frustrated ive waited since about 2003 for this

[StephenM]

That was awesome! The clouds cleared literally 5 minutes before the pass, and the 2 spacecraft must have been separated by less than 1 degree as they chased each other across the sky. An amazing sight!

I'm just about to post a couple of images in the Solar System forum.

Sorry to hear that you had clouds Steve.

Cheers,
Stephen

[steve000]

are you for real? i stayed west of bris in the drier air etc to avoid clouds i knew i should have stayed in bris, then again if i was there it would have been cloudy.. bugger it talk about downer

[StephenM]

I just posted an image here (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=75844) if you're interested.

Cheers,
Stephen

[hotspur]

Hopefully this evening,I'll try a tripod shot using 70-200 of it passing Orion

[mithrandir]

It goes over here starting at 322 deg and finishing at 122 deg. Even my 11mm lens can't cope with that FOV. I'll have to track about every 6 frames. Roll on 17:45

[StephenM]

Clouded out here in Brisbane.

How did you get on with the double pass on the 18th, Chris?

Cheers,
Stephen

[hotspur]

No good here on the 18th-rather disappointed-lots of cloud,I saw your great capture,I am not sure what date or time they part ways,and if there is a pass over S.E QLD.But would like to try and capture that.

Tonight,was awful weather wise,clouds/showers,but a small break had me thinking to use the zoom and go 135-200 on a constellation-I had Orion in mind,and get little amount of trails.But the weather had other plans for me.

I had to 'hop-scotch' about and hope for the best-used 70 mm at 7.1 iso 250 47 sec exp.I was fairly surprised it came out as reasonable as it did.

Thanks for looking-Chris