Jupiter, Uranus, and the X-37B spaceplane

[StephenM (Stephen)]

Hi all,

At 5:12 this morning we had a pass of the US Military's new X37B spaceplane just below Jupiter and Uranus, so I thought I'd have a go at capturing it. The X-37B was about mag 3.5, which is at the limit of what I can pick up with my K100D and 300mm lens. In order to make the X-37B trail visible I had to adjust the levels so much that the quality of the resulting image is terrible - but the X37B is visible, which was the goal. Had a nice view in binoculars as well.

Anyway, here's the image.

Cheers,
Stephen

[Dennis]

What a unique capture – nice planning and execution Stephen, you’re a champion at this exotic stuff!

Cheers

Dennis

[bird (Anthony Wesley)]

Nice work, that's not something you see every day...

Bird

[michaellxv (Michael)]

Well done, timed perfectly.

[alexch (Alex)]

Very interesting and well captured. Thanks for sharing
Alex

[StephenM (Stephen)]

Thanks Dennis, Michael, Anthony and Alex.

Unfortunately the focus moved on my lens while waiting for the X-37B to arrive, so the trail was a bit out-of-focus and therefore faint. I took another sharper image of the planets just after the X-37B passed, and combined the 2 in Photoshop to get this image. Would have been better if the focus hadn't moved!

Cheers,
Stephen

[kinetic (Steve)]

Pure amateur astronomer imaging excellence, Stephen!

Steve

[Liz]

Good one Stephen.

[StephenM (Stephen)]

Thanks Steve and Liz!

Originally Posted by kinetic

Pure amateur astronomer imaging excellence, Stephen!

Not sure about that Steve, but it was a bit of fun!

Cheers,
Stephen

[multiweb (Marc)]

Very cool Stephen! Did the men in black knock on your door shortly after you took those shots?

[RobF (Rob)]

Great work and planning Stephen.
How the heck did you find out when it was visible? Heavens Above?

[StephenM (Stephen)]

Originally Posted by multiweb

Very cool Stephen! Did the men in black knock on your door shortly after you took those shots?

Thanks Marc. No, they haven't knocked on the door yet, but it's probably just a matter of time!

Originally Posted by RobF

Great work and planning Stephen.
How the heck did you find out when it was visible? Heavens Above?

Thanks Rob. The X-37B passes have been listed on Heavens Above for the last few days. It's quite interesting to see if you get the chance.

Cheers,
Stephen

[RobF (Rob)]

Thanks Stephen - must look it up

[kinetic (Steve)]

I saw it this morning Stephen , on a 45 degree pass (Fri, 5:19am)
Tried to get a photo...nothing so far in a quick stretch of my set.
I will try stacking them to reduce the noise, see if I can see a trail
as a negative.
Mag 4 was easily visible even with the moon nearby, but in a 30sec
time exposure with it moving, obviously not enough brightness to
register on a pixel.

Steve

[StephenM (Stephen)]

Originally Posted by kinetic

I saw it this morning Stephen , on a 45 degree pass (Fri, 5:19am)
Tried to get a photo...nothing so far in a quick stretch of my set.
I will try stacking them to reduce the noise, see if I can see a trail
as a negative.
Mag 4 was easily visible even with the moon nearby, but in a 30sec
time exposure with it moving, obviously not enough brightness to
register on a pixel.

Steve

Glad you got to see it Steve. Hopefully we'll get some brighter passes in the next few weeks.

Cheers,
Stephen