Atlantis undocked. Updated

[von Tom]

Here are some images from tonight's pass of the ISS and Atlantis, which was conducting a flyaround of the station. EOS 550D and 12" Dobsonian in both HD and video crop mode. I will trawl the videos for more frames...

Update: I've uploaded another pic revealing the Atlantis as a faint object, possibly the underside or in the ISS's shadow?

Another Update: I've included a video of every single frame that had recorded the ISS/Atlantis on it. I've stacked them all together into an avi and added the sound of my family watching the pass: http://www.flickr.com/photos/vontom/5982677491/in/photostream/ . It appears that initally the Atlantis' underside is visible then, as the perspective changes during the pass, the topside becomes visible.

Here's a link to youtube of an animation and actual footage from the undocking and flyaround: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PEp9fjeLME

Tom

[multiweb]

Excellent. I was just watching the live feed 30min ago. Clouds in Sydney - no luck.

[deanm]

Strewth & Crikey!

Dean

[Dennis]

Lovely work Tom – quite a memorable, if not poignant, series of images.:):(

I stumbled late into this event and just about had time to set up the Canon 40D with 60mm lens on a tripod in the back garden and capture a single 20 sec wide field shot.

Cheers

Dennis

[Lester]

Thanks for the views Tom. The detail in your second to last image is very good.

[michaellxv]

Fantastic capture of this historic event Tom.

[Forgey]

nice work tom

[von Tom]

Some of the early close up images appeared to have just the ISS in them, whereas the Shuttle is quite bright in the later ones. I increased the brightness and found the Atlantis, very faint, to the lower right. Here is a stack of 13 images with levels applied.

[naskies]

Wow, that's awesome! :) Isn't it amazing that humans have built vehicles that can transport to space and keep them up there, and devices for seeing/recording those tiny dots in the sky?

[AstroFlyer]

Very cool images!
Nothing but clouds here...:(

[M54]

I love the forth image, the solar panels come up so well.

Thanks Tom.:thumbsup:

[midnight]

Magnificant Tom!

Unfortunately for me, a big booger cloud rolled in just at 7pm when I had setup and I was hoping to catch the two trails near each other.

Well done and historic too.

Darrin...

[von Tom]

Thanks everyone. Sorry you all didn't get to see it. I'm trying to figure out whether the Atlantis was in the shadow of the ISS or I was looking at the underside.

[von Tom]

I've stacked 13 stills and used unsharp masking to produce this image:

[von Tom]

OK, I've scoured my videos and extracted every single frame that had recorded the ISS/Atlantis on it. I've stacked them all together into an avi and added the sound of my family watching the pass.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/vontom/5982677491/in/photostream/

[Lester]

The background commentary, especially the children, really adds to the excitement of the moment.

Thanks Tom, this is priceless.

[von Tom]

Hey thanks Lester! :)

[sadia]

This is excellent Tom :) thank you for uploading the avi and sharing the view.

[Matt Wastell]

Cool!

[Osirisra]

Congratulations Tom on getting your awesome images on Sky at night!:thumbsup:

Just watched the episode and saw your images and thought, hey! I recognize that! and sure enough Chris confirmed it.

Wicked stuff man :D

[von Tom]

Hi Ken,

Thanks. I missed the show, is there any way of seeng it online?

Tom

[Osirisra]

I download each episode when it aired in the UK...You use torrents?

[Osirisra]

The Sky at Night Mag has the latest episodes too

[von Tom]

Thanks for the heads up Ken, I just saw it, pretty cool : ), and pretty special for me since I read alot of (then) Patrick Moore's books that taught me alot about astronomy.

Tom

[Osirisra]

Having something you done on the longest running show with the same legendary presenter is pretty darn cool allright :) The man is a livng legend!