International Space Station

[astroman]

Attached are photos of the ISS - one taken earlier tonight and a longer exposure shot from a year ago showing the ISS trail across the night sky.

Tonight before dark -
http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj138/astroman_caithness/ISS23rdMay.jpg

Last year. The ISS is the streak on the lower right of the photo -
http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj138/astroman_caithness/ISS16thApr07.jpg

Those interested in seeing the ISS in the sky as it orbits the Earth at around 17,000mph have a good opportunity over the coming week. It can easily be seen with the naked eye at specific times moving low across the southern horizon shortly after sunset.
For details of the times it's viewable go to http://www.heavens-above.com (http://www.heavens-above.com/) select your location and click on the link for sighting predictions for the ISS.

[Tugmistress]

Thanks astroman. have never tried a night shot of the sky yet, but i think we have some clear nights coming up so am going to give it a go, hopefully the results will be as clear as yours ... what was the exposure time on the second shot if you can remember?

[astroman]

Thanks astroman. have never tried a night shot of the sky yet, but i think we have some clear nights coming up so am going to give it a go, hopefully the results will be as clear as yours ... what was the exposure time on the second shot if you can remember?

16 seconds at ISO200 on my Olympus C-750 compact digital camera.

The photo was taken in April 2007, so the sky was fully dark and much darker than it will get this week. Because the sky will be brighter I'd advise selecting a low ISO and small aperture so that you have a long exposure time (ideally more than 10 seconds). This should give a long trail as the ISS moves across the sky.

If you enjoy checking out the ISS as it flies by us, then see if you can spot some iridium flares (short period bright reflections from panels on iridium satellites). The brighter ones are pretty spectacular and you can again get details of when you can see them at from your location from www.heavens-above.com (http://www.heavens-above.com).

[Tugmistress]

I do a lot of stock photography so my ISO is set permanently to it's lowest (100) and i reckon something like f22 may work quite well in the summer sky, if not i'll fiddle until i get a result i like :)
thanks for the info, very very useful

[astroman]

View showing the ISS moving across the night sky above the road bridge in Thurso.
http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj138/astroman_caithness/ISSThursoBridgeSmall.jpg
(16 sec exposure).

Pity the blue lighting normally showing below the bridge was turned off.