ISS Transit – 21 frame collage from 24th June 2011

[Dennis]

Hello,

I was stoked to be able to record a transit of the International Space Station across the face of the Sun on Friday, 24th June 2011 at 12:47pm. Tom first alerted me to the transit (thanks Tom!) which saw me setting up at the Foreshore Park at Cleveland.

As this would be my first attempt at recording an ISS transit, I was not expecting too much, treating the outing as a dress rehearsal in planning, logistics and setting up at a mobile location. Tom arrived some 10 minutes before the event and proceeded to set up his gear – now that guy is cool, he appeared unhurried and unflustered!:)

At the appointed sub-second, it all happened so quickly. It was fortunate that on the Canon 7D, I did do a dry run a few minutes before the event to discover that the “first” press of the “Movie” button ONLY locked up the mirror! It required a “second” press to begin recording then a “third” press to halt recording. Without this test, I would have pressed it once, waited and missed the event….:(

According to Google Earth, I was some 160 metres from the centreline.

It was good to finally meet Tom and I would like to thank him for posting the recent details about the ISS transits visible from Brisbane.:thumbsup:

Thanks for looking!

Dennis

[multiweb]

Wow! That's excellent Dennis. Very sharp too. Bull'seye :thumbsup:

[sheeny]

As usual Dennis, you don't muck about doing half a job! Nice and sharp, no dropped frames, excellent!

So when can we expect the animation???

Imaging the ISS I think is pretty much the dynamic end of astrophotography. It does get hectic doesn't it?

Al.

[iceman]

Brilliant Dennis, just brilliant.

I wish you had a massive solar Ha scope :)

[StarsInMyEyes]

WOW, what a fantastic image. Nice and sharp.

:2thumbs:

Peter

[peter_4059]

Great image Dennis. Well done.

[von Tom]

Fabulous image Dennis - excellent detail! It was good to meet you too.
I'm glad you could be there and glad you did that dry run! I've attached a shot of this afternoon's scene I hope you don't mind, it was almost a perfect day and perfect setting.

Cheers,

Tom

[hickny]

Wow!:jawdrop:

[jjjnettie]

:D That's awesome Dennis!
Very very happy for you!

[Peter Ward]

Excellent capture!

[Derek Klepp]

Great Dennis thanks for the pics.

[h0ughy]

:thumbsup::eyepop: :bowdown: :bowdown: :bowdown: :bowdown:

awesome big D:)

[cookie8]

Just simply awesome 10/10!!

[davewaldo]

Nice one Dennis! I'd love to see higher res. You've got some great detail there!

[Quark]

Dennis......that is just so cool mate, bloody brilliant!!!!:bowdown:

Extremely well done.
Regards
Trevor

[Liz]

Wonderful image Dennis, well done!! You guys certainly had a nice little spot there by the water. :D

[Rob_K]

Stunning! :thumbsup:

Cheers -

[Astroman]

excellent image, well done... I can see this sort of imaging will become more seen as more people realise they can also capture this event, by using equipment they may already have. Thanks again for sharing...

[Dennis]

Hello,

Thank you everyone for your words of appreciation, this has been an exciting project!:)

I have added an updated image where I have attempted to tease out some detail on the solar disc, hopefully not at the expense to too much noise. It was a difficult challenge with only 21 frames to play with.:(

I have also included an inset image, which is a full resolution crop from the original 1920x1080 frame, showing the apparent size of the ISS in the full frame.

Cheers

Dennis

PS – thanks Tom, for posting the photo of our bay side location within the ground track of the ISS!

[[1ponders]]

How cool is that??? Fantastic Dennis. Amazing resolution

[Dennis]

I’ll respond to a couple of specific questions in this post, so please do not think that I did not appreciate your replies if I have not quoted them.:)



Hi Al,

Yes – these events would be good practice sessions for total solar eclipses! As we got within 10 mins of the predicted transit, each minute appeared to pass like a second as final adjustments were made.:eyepop:



Hi Dave

Here is a 1600 pixel wide strip showing the full resolution at a focal length of approx. 1728 mm.

Cheers

Dennis

[Matt Wastell]

Great stuff Dennis!

The detail is quite exceptional for your set up - a classic transit - congratulations!!!!!

[Dennis]

Thanks Matt, there is a nice Ice In Space community story behind this image.:)

It started with Mike (Iceman) and Dave (H0ughy) planning to photograph the total lunar eclipse of 16th June from Brisbane, whereupon I felt a twinge of guilt that these guys were flying in from NSW making a huge effort to capture this event.:P

For my part, I was going to watch the latter stages from the comfort of our study window, but the crushing guilt I felt due to these cross-border raiders, compelled me to meet up with Mike and record the eclipse in the wee hours of the morning.

Then, along comes Tom who posts that an ISS solar transit is to take place some 20kms from home. Friday dawned a perfect day and with so with no excuses, I headed out and managed to record that event too.

I suspect that without the help, motivation and cajoling from this community, these events may have passed me by, so thanks to my extended Ice In Space “family” for stimulating my interest in recording these two most recent and dramatic events.:)

Cheers

Dennis

[iceman]

So where's the animation Dennis? :)

[astro_mike]

Dude! That ROCKS!!! The link to this was the number one headline on The Daily Crux (http://paper.li/AstronomyMike/1309065212/2011/06/26) today

[Rob_K]

Congrats, front cover of Spaceweather!

http://www.spaceweather.com/

Cheers -

[Lester]

Outstanding image Dennis, and one to remember. Thanks for the view, and all the best for more.

[sasup]

that is the coolest thing I have ever seen.....

[davewaldo]

Very cool, Thank you for posting the higher res detail. The resolution you have captured is fabulous!

[troypiggo]

Dennis! That's stunning! Not sure how I missed it first time around, but well done - careful planning paid off for sure!

[SkyViking]

What a fantastic image Dennis. Can't believe this was only your first attempt at an ISS transit :eyepop:
You've captured it so well and with so much detail. Maybe you'll be able to stack the ISS bits of the frames and get even more detail out of the station itself?
Congratulations on yet another excellent result :D

[von Tom]

Dennis the resolution is fantastic. I too would love to see stacked ISS frames!

Tom

[firstlight]

What can I say that hasn't already been said... You have the touch of King Midas in that everything you do is pure gold.

Is there any chance you can come to the BAS meeting on the 8th July? We would love to see these at the meeting from a BAS old-boy. i will have some from the eclipse there and I would like to listen to your thoughts on the eclipse and the ISS transit.

Cheers
Tony

[Dennis]

Hi Rolf & Tom

Okay, it’s not real pretty but this is the best that I could do from stacking 19 of the frames. At this small scale, it can become difficult to differentiate between the real, core data and unwanted artefacts arising from the number of conversion, aligning, stacking and processing steps involved.

Cheers

Dennis

[Dennis]

Hi Mike

Okay, here are a couple of animations - took me a while to remember how to do these.:)

Animation 01: The full field of view as recorded by the 7D. WARNING: 1.6MB file.
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/uploads/ISS-Transit-Animation-2011-Jun-24-BW.gif

Animation 02: A central strip providing a slightly larger ISS flitting across the disc. WARNING: 1.6MB file.
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/uploads/ISS-Transit-Animation-2011-Jun-24-1280x400.gif

Cheers

Dennis

[iceman]

Now you're talking :) Great animations Dennis, thanks!

[sheeny]

Thanks for the animation Dennis. It completes the set;):P.

Al.

[von Tom]

Dennis I have something (almost) right up your alley :). Tomorrow afternoon the HST transits the sun at a lazy 4.8 sec duration on the 22km wide centreline through Brisbane. It will be 1.6" in size though and a real challenge one would think! Centreline is here:
http://www.calsky.com/?Transitline=&showhome=&obs=81134432212366&tdt=2455742.75514586&sat=20580&interval=0.00011574&step=0.00000231&mainbody=0

Cheers,

Tom

[Dennis]

Thanks Tom, you are a real wiz at these predictions!:thumbsup:

Sadly, the Sun will be at an altitude of only 10 degrees and with rain forecast for tomorrow, I don’t rate my chances.:(

Cheers

Dennis

[von Tom]

Ah, I forgot about the sun altitude...if it's clear I'll give it a shot!

[Dennis]

Hi Tom

Clear skies and good shooting! I won’t see this from home due to obstructed horizons.

Cheers

Dennis

[Dennis]

Hi Tony

Hmm, not sure if it’s the Midas touch or just a bit of luck and a few sucker holes!

Thanks for the invite to the BAS meeting, I’d be delighted to come along and give a short talk on how the image was planned, recorded and processed. It would be great to catch up with the regulars as I’ve been somewhat of a recluse these last few years!

Cheers

Dennis

[h0ughy]

Dennis, that animation is awesome

[Dennis]

Here is a bit of artistic licence! I used the colour data from an NOAA (http://www.noaa.gov/)image of the Sun (from SpaceWeather (http://spaceweather.com/)) to add some colour to my monotone version!:D

Cheers

Dennis

[Ric]

A fantastic effort Dennis.

That is stunning. :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[firstlight]

What did I say about "Gold" Dennis :lol:

I told the committee that you are coming next Friday to do a short talk, and everyone is stoked and keen to see your presentation (So no backing out now!)

Cheers
Tony

[atalas]

That's a very cool shot Dennis!thanks for the view.

[Dennis]

Okay Tony. My events manager will speak with your agent to discuss my appearance fees and other requirements.:P

I insist on my own dressing room, bottles of special Kabbalah water, rose petals in the toilet, peach coloured toilet tissue, gold faucets, coffee must be stirred counter clockwise, a Takahashi TOA150 and a stretched limo to pick me up.:lol:

Cheers

Dennis

[firstlight]

:rofl:

[gary]

Wow Dennis! That is fantastic! Mai and I are in awe here. :thumbsup:

[Dennis]

Well, after almost missing recording the ISS transit due to some confusion about how the Movie shooting switch operates on the Canon 7D, I finally managed to run a quick test today.

As you can see from the scan from the 7D Manual:
Step 1 indicates that the reflex mirror will flip up when the Live View shooting/Movie shooting switch is switched to the Movie shooting position.
Step 3 indicates that the (first) press of the START/STOP button will then begin the recording.

My experience was as follows:
Step 1 – setting the Live View shooting/Movie shooting switch to the Movie shooting position did NOT cause the reflex mirror will flip up.
The first press of the START/STOP button caused the reflex mirror will flip up.
The second press of the START/STOP button then began the recording.

What gave the game away is that:

After the first press of the START/STOP button, the red LED “access lamp” at the rear of the camera did NOT “blink” to indicate that data was being written to the CF Card.
The second press of the START/STOP button then caused the “access lamp” to blink thus capturing the transit of the ISS across the face of the Sun.

It would appear that the Canon Manual describes the correct behaviour with a camera lens fitted whereas the behaviour when fitted to a telescope is how I experienced it, as the telescope does not communicate with the 7D body.

It pays to do a dry run before the main event!:)

Cheers

Dennis

[von Tom]

Nice summary of the differences between using a lens and using the telescope with the 7D Dennis.

[acropolite]

What h0ughy said...........amazing work Dennis.:thumbsup:

[Dennis]

This morning, Mike forwarded me a request that he received in the Ice In Space mailbox, from a Space Shuttle astronaut asking for a copy of my photo of the ISS transiting the Sun.:)

I have sent a full res jpg to the STS-51F astronaut, just to let him see the resolution of the image (1920x1080) as I am not sure if he would like to print it. Having lived through, and been enthralled and inspired by the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, Soyuz, Skylab, Spacelab and now International Space Station missions, it was very exciting to be contacted by one of the few people that had flown on one of these missions.:eyepop:

Cheers

Dennis

[sheeny]

Congrats Dennis! That's really quite special I think!

Al.

[beren]

:thumbsup: Wow Dennis great work, legend ....great news with the image request :)

[von Tom]

Wow! Well done Dennis. That is very special!

[h0ughy]

you are a legend Dennis:thumbsup: well done