Last night we had a great ISS pass over Sydney and the Central Coast, passing almost directly overhead at a max magnitude of -2.4. It occured between 18:48 and 18:51 local time, a great time of night with the sky nice and dark, and not too late either so I could drag the whole family out to watch it.
I wanted to capture it through the scope but I didn’t have time to set it all up (I only get home at 6pm and then had to have dinner, etc), so I captured a widefield view with the Canon 350D and Sigma 17-70mm lens on a fixed tripod using a long exposure. It passed very close to the Moon and Jupiter, making for a nice conjunction in the sky.
My family loved watching the bright ISS pass overhead. Last time we’d watched an ISS pass together I told the kids how there’s astronauts in there! They were suitably amazed. This time Abbey asked “How do the people get in there?” I told her a rocket took them up there. It’s great watching her face as she digests the information and I’d love to know what she imagines in her mind
