International Space Station through the scope - 11th Sep

[cookie8 (Vincent)]

Mike, what kind of finderscope did you use? A straight thru or right angle? Is it illuminated? 6X? 8X?

[iceman (Mike)]

It's the standard 9x50 RA finder. Makes it a bit easier trying to track the ISS with the RA, rather than a straight through.

Though being out of focus made it quite difficult. Also depending on the position of your eye, you can think you've positioned it on the crosshairs but it could be way off.

Last night, Jacob was watching the laptop screen and would shout out when he saw something fly across it. So I knew I had *some* frames

Ideally I want to hook a ToUcam up to a spare 6x30 finderscope and use that to more accurately track the ISS.

[Deeno]

Superb!!!!

[Lester]

Well done Mike.

[bluescope]

Very good images of a fast moving little sucker Mike !

[Garyh]

That`s a excellent capture Mike! Well done indeed!!!
Did you use a dob base or did you use your GEM?
cheers Gary

[iceman (Mike)]

Thanks again guys.

Gary I used my dob base. The GEM could probably be used with clutches off, but not with the finderscope 2m off the ground The dob alt/az is perfect for it - just trying to keep the movement smooth and the bright spot in the middle of the crosshairs is the hard part!

[acropolite (Phil)]

Top Job Mike, as we've come to expect.

[Bassnut (Fred)]

Fantastic Mike, amazing detail

[spearo (Frank)]

awesome!
frank

[kinetic (Steve)]

Originally Posted by Peter Ward

Having tried a few times use a PME to actually track the ISS, I've come to the conclusion this is no trivial or easy task to completely nail.

Well done indeed!

No trivial task indeed.

Well Done Mike, I agree, it's the best I've seen in the forums.

Regarding a post about suitability of the SPC900NC....

I've had 2 goes at it, months ago with a spc900NC and 8" F7 Newt,
handtracked on GEM with my son rotating the dome

First go was all blurs.
2nd was detail, but not much.
See:
http://mywebsite.bigpond.com/astrost...0_apr_2008.wmv
(warning: large file)

Settings were guessed and the 2nd go seemed closer to the sweet spot.

Trevor: 800x ??
Only a 2x Barlow, are you getting confused with the 5x finder?

ISS is suprisingly quite large in even low power eyepieces,
you can easily resolve it into detail....capturing it is the hard part.

regards,
Steve B.

[madtuna (Steve)]

got to tip my hat to that...very nice effort Mr Salway!

[Inmykombi (Geoff)]

wow,
What a great photo and amazing detail.

Geoffro

[bird (Anthony Wesley)]

Excellent capture Mike, congrats!
Bird

[AlexN]

Stunning.... Appart from that, Im speechless.

[Jen]

thats a great pic Mike cheers

[seeker372011 (Narayan)]

wow!

thats an amazing result.

now dont forget to grab some images when the space shuttle services the Hubble next month

[Babalyon 5]

That is indeed very awesome, some of the best Ive seem.

[peeb61 (Paul)]

My jaw just won't close and I'm speechless.........

[WadeH (Wade)]

Very nice job Mike. It must be no mean effort just to track a satellite let alone image it.