space station

[Russian Rocket]

when I have seen the space station fly overhead I can convince myself it is H shaped and can just make out the solar panels.

but its "only" the size of a football pitch and 400Km away

so is this just wishful thinking

[Eric Mc]

Unless you have Steve Austin's Zoom-In eye, then yes, I'd say it is wishful thinking.

I have a pair of bins that can magnify up to 40 x and on maximum magnification you can see that the blob of light is actually two blobs.

[scubadude]

FWIW I agree, the ISS definitely looks different to other satellites.

Last year we where diving in a remote location which was nice and dark so I pointed out a satellite passing over head- we then played spot the satellite for a while and someone observed "that one looks big" and it did, sort of lumpy. When I checked the next day it was the ISS passing overhead and despite the distance the shape and colour was visually different from the ground.

What is the next biggest satellite in LEO in comparison?

[FurtiveFreddy]

Your eyes can't resolve an object that size at that distance, so any shape you might think you see will be because of aberrations and defects in the lenses in your eyes (and we all have small defects to some degree).

This is what I got using a Nikon P900, which has the equivalent of a 2000mm lens (on a 35mm) in front of it. Look it up on YouTube and you'll see the huge zoom range this camera has got.

Full frame image:


Detail blown up:



Now, is that the shape of the ISS, or just distortions/flares etc. caused by the lens, camera shake, condensation etc.?

Really, you need a lot more resolution and a much longer lens to capture a conclusive image.

[Zad]

Similarly here on my photo:



I can't decide whether it really is that shape or just lens flare, but there does seem to be a decidedly spiky shape in there, rather than a circular blob that (e.g.) stars make.

[Sylvaforever]

This'll blow your minds.




Ref http://alpo-j.asahikawa-med.ac.jp/kk09/o090320z.ht...



Info..


A reprocessing using a composite of 10 frames taken during
approach of the docked Space Shuttle Discovery on STS-119 mission
in March 2009, resolved some surprising detail including a
sign of the Main Engines(SSMEs)of the Orbiter.

For a visualisation model to compare, see:
http://mensa-barbie.com/bloggerimages/400SPACESTAT...

There is a special difficulty capturing the engines due to
problems with the lighting and position angle of observing.
Although resolving them is theoretically within the reach of
an amateur telescope, the engines are not optimal lighted by
sun during culmination, the position were we have shortest
distance and so best resolution. A while before culm, during
approach, lighting angle is better, but resolution is far
from optimal. In this case, thanks to exellent seeing and the
luck with 10 usable frames to improve slightly sign/noise ratio,
it succeeded however.

Imagery: 10inch Newtonian, fully manually tracked using a
6x magn tracking scope)

Edited by Sylvaforever on Monday 2nd May 17:02

[Eric Mc]

You will find similar pictures to this earlier in the thread, plus links to some video as well. Indeed, on one occasion, an image of a spacewalking astronaut was captured from the ground. To get these types of pictures, you do need some specialist kit.

[Motorsport_is_Expensive]

You need specialist kit, but what a sight!

My jaw nearly fell off when I saw a Youtube of a telescope / camera videoing the ISS fly by. Amazing stuff.

[Eric Mc]

In 2007, on the 50th Anniversary of the launch of Sputnik 1, BBC did a special programme on the history of spaceflight and featured some excellent coverage of amateur videoing of the International Space Station.