Space Station Spotting

[MartG]

Nice pass a few minutes ago - just caught it by accident as I was putting the bins out

[speedtwelve]

Not bad for an iPhone.

[Eric Mc]

Caught it on video

[speedtwelve]

Eric

Have you seen the enthusiasts using video through a tracking telescope to film ISS passes? There are a few on You Tube, with sufficient definition to see the shuttle docked at the time.

[Eric Mc]

Yes, I've seen them a few times. My shots just came out as a point of light.

[Hub]

MartG said:

Nice pass a few minutes ago - just caught it by accident as I was putting the bins out

Same here tonight - probably the brightest I've seen just now!

[homersimpson1]

I regularly look for the ISS... try looking through binoculars. . You'd be surprised how much you can you see...

[Eric Mc]

There is a Soyuz launch to the ISS in just over half an hour from now.

If the weather is clear this evening it might be possible to see the Soyuz chasing the ISS.

[XM5ER]

Just watched the blast off, all good so far. Absolutely no chance of seeing anything tonight though.

[tonyvid]

It was a really bright and clear pass last night at 22:42. could see it almost to the horizon. Me and my little slug-munching hedgehog friend enjoyed it together!

[FurtiveFreddy]

tonyvid said:

It was a really bright and clear pass last night at 22:42. could see it almost to the horizon. Me and my little slug-munching hedgehog friend enjoyed it together!

I wish ours would eat more of them. I'm worried I'm going to tread on him when I go out there at night with all the lights off.

Eventually, it's looking like a clear night down here tonight, so I'm going to try and get some photos again later.

[anonymous-user]

tonyvid said:

It was a really bright and clear pass last night at 22:42. could see it almost to the horizon. Me and my little slug-munching hedgehog friend enjoyed it together!

Great for me too in Lincolnshire!

[FurtiveFreddy]

One of last night's passes

[Eric Mc]

That's rather nice.

Any technical details of the exposure etc?

[FurtiveFreddy]

Nikon D500, 16mm lens, 2 minute exposure at f2.8, ISO200.

Light pollution around here spoils things a bit. I'm trying to do a few tests before I go to the Canaries later in the year as I'd like to come back from there with a few good star trail photos. Last night was supposed to be clear, but the clouds rolled in as usual. Ho hum.

[Eric Mc]

I only have a bridge camera but I might see what I can do with it.

[FurtiveFreddy]

Clouds!

[RammyMP]

I'm in Portugal at the moment, I have a look for it with the kids almost every night, clear sky's help! It will always fascinate me!

Saw a quality shooting star the other night, if was that bright I thought it was a plane!

[Yidwann]

Ahhhhhhhh I haven't done this for years, we used to time breaks when I used to work nights and spot all sorts, the office was in the middle of no where, likewise now, live in a village shall have to get spotting again! Some good clear weather would be nice though!

[FurtiveFreddy]

There's so much stuff up there circling us all the time.

If you want to spot some of it, apart from the Heavens Above site, I'd recommend installing Stellarium on your computer, telling it your location and then you can sit there and play with the time/date control and see when and where things will be if you know you're going to have a clear night and some time to spend looking skyward.

I've even made a panorama of my garden and put it in there, so I can see how the sky will look in relation to the trees and houses around me.

Here's how the ISS will appear tonight in my back garden.



Except it's going to be cloudy, so I won't see this...