SATELLITES
ISS with a Cannon 350D.
300mm lens on tripod, time exposures range between 1/200sec &
1/800sec, AV5.6 ISO1600
Just go's to show you don't need a high powered scope to make out the shape /
solar panels of
the ISS!
Iridium Flare mag -4
from the Burren
Iridium Flare of at least mag -8
from the Burren
taken over the Dolmen.
Close up.
Saturday 5th April 2008. 925pm ISS
pass intersecting Mars over Shannon.
Monday 11th Feb. 6:55pm ISS & Shuttle
Saturday 9th Feb. 6:19pm ISS & Shuttle
07.08.07 - Mercury, The Moon, Venus, Saturn &
Space Shuttle Discovery STS120.
(move your mouse over and back on the image to see the labels)
I was up early this morning to catch the last pass of the undocked space shuttle Discovery & ISS.
The scene was truly amazing.
I hadn't planned on photographing it as I reckoned it would be too bright
to record the Shuttle / ISS trails and get the planets also but
I couldn't get over how bright Mercury was!
(Apparent Mag -0.30 )
At first I thought it was a star but after looking at my print out from
Heavens Above I soon realized it was the elusive little planet.
(far left in the pic)
The waining crescent Moon was still very bright at Mag -10.32 but the earth shine was
equally bright.
Venus? what can I say.
It's just sooooo bright! Mag -4.33! Awesome!
(I promised myself to get some webcam shots before the end of the month)
Saturn is still respectable at Mag 0.80 nestled under the belly of Leo and
quite obvious (more so than I would have thought)
So the scen was set and now all that was required was to wait for the
spaceships to pass over in orbit.
Heavens Above yet again got it bang on and first came some of the
supply modules, very faint indeed.
Next Discovery, (the streak to the right of the Moon)
not as bright as the predicted Mag 2.22 but I'm sure that
has got to do with the angle of the craft relative to your location.
Finally and unmistakably, the ISS.
Alway an amazing sight.
I had hoped to get a 'double streak' showing the Shuttle and ISS
undocked but the Shuttle was a good bit ahead and if I had left the
shutter open any longer I would have overexposed the shot
and lost everything bar the moon & venus.
So at least something is better than nothing.
I still managed to get an ISS trail but I think the one made by Discovery
is a little more interesting as it's basically making its way back to Earth.
07.08.07
The ISS passing over Bunratty
Castle, Ireland.
Space Shuttle Atlantis (STS-117) Docked with the International
Space Station
10.06.07
After a day of playing cat and mouse, the space shuttle
Atlantis finally docked
with the International Space Station on the 10th of June on it's mission to deliver
a new solar array.
The STS-117
Crew.
The Shuttle delivering the solar
array.
The ISS as it looks now with the new panel.
To get the above shot I noted on Heavens Above.com that the pair would be making a few well-placed
passes
over my location that evening so I reckoned there would be no better chance to
try and photograph the event.
I took the image using a modified Philips SPC900 webcam attached to my Meade
ETX-125.
First I focused, set the exposure levels and aligned the red-dot finder on Venus
which was setting in the west.
When the pair began their pass, I just clicked record and tracked manually.
Out of a 3min AVI, I was able to stack around 40 good clear frames in Registax.
I was really surprised with the level of detail that can be gleaned by doing
this,
especially when you consider they are around 300 KM above traveling at 27,700
KPH!
Animation of the pass using 110
frames taken from the AVI with Registax.
The ISS & Shuttle play cat & mouse.*
10.06.07
Early this morning, we saw space shuttle Atlantis playing catch up to
the International Space Station over Shannon, Ireland.
I photographed the spacecrafts using a Meade ETX-125 & Philips webcam.
The brightness and speed of these objects as they passed overhead was
wonderful.
When the pair dock [later today], they should make an unmissable sight in the
sky!
The ISS passing over a beach in Portugal.
18.05.07
At 5am on Friday the 18th it was getting bright fast!
I decided to head off to the beach to catch an ISS pass.
There was other people on the beach at that hour too but
I'd say astrophotography was the last thing on their minds!! 
They got some fright when they almost bumped into me on the
way back to the hotel!!
There was some light pollution from the Hotel on the cliff but
at least it lit the scene for me,
A handheld torch light the waves for me so as to get a feel for the moment.
I just managed to capture Uranus on the outskirts of Aquarius.
ISS pass, Boher, 09.06.07
28.04.07
Iridium flare behind a mobile phone mast.
The Iridium satellite network is mainly used for
telephonic communications.
0104.07
Mag -8 !
WOW!
First time seeing and photographing an Iridium Flare.
This thing was BRIGHT!
It was visible for a lot longer than seen in the photo,
thats because I had the AP. stopped down a lot over the almost full Moon to
the right, (you can kinda see the light spill)
and I just didn't know how bright this thing would get!
Iridium Flare Details:
Date: Sunday, 01 April, 2007
Location: Hurlers Cross (52.716°N, 8.830°W)
Satellite: Iridium 62
Magnitude: -8 -8
Altitude: 38° 38°
Antenna (MMA): Right
Flare centre is at: 52.717°N, 8.769°W
Distance to centre: 4.1 km (2.5 miles)
Mirror angle: 0.1° 0.0°
Time: 22:37:44 22:37:44
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