What is it? – The International Space Station or ISS is a large spacecraft which orbits around Earth. This orbit allows the ISS to be reached by launch vehicles (such as the Space Shuttle) of all the international partners for the delivery of crews and supplies. It is the largest and most complex international scientific project in history. The ISS is the size of a football pitch fitted with almost an acre of solar panels that provide electrical power to six state-of-the-art laboratories.
Can the ISS be seen from Earth? – Yes, it travels at an amazing 17,000 mph and orbits earth at an altitude of approximately 250 miles. The sheer size of the structure and array of solar panels reflect sunlight, making it the biggest, brightest object orbiting earth. Only the sun and moon are brighter. It can easily be seen moving across the night sky, at certain times, almost resembling a slow moving fireball.
How do you capture it on camera? – With a bit of planning and the right equipment it can easily be captured on camera:-
Planning – Firstly, one needs to calculate at what time the ISS will pass over the skies above. This can easily be found by visiting a website: www.heavens-above.com which will identify the exact days and times at when the ISS will pass directly above one’s location, and which part of the sky to look. There are also a number of excellent mobile applications such as ‘GoSatWatch’ and ‘Flyby’ which allow this to be done remotely.
Credit: Mark Humpage
Execution – A good ISS capture will require a long exposure. A tripod is therefore required to keep the camera nice and steady. A wide angle lens will ensure maximising as much of the ISS flyby which can travel across the entire horizon. Personally, I use the Olympus 7-14mm or 8mm fisheye which are ideal lenses. Try to locate a foreground object of interest within the frame, a line of trees or buildings in order to give the image perspective and scale. Set the camera to manual and use long exposure times of anything between 15 and 30 seconds. With camera primed and in position all that is left now is to wait for the ISS to enter the field of view. By capturing a single or number of continuous exposures the resulting image(s) will reveal a long trail across the frame. Capturing numerous and continuous images will allow you to stack and produce a composite, which can produce stunning results.
ISS Double flyby photo (bottom) – For this ISS double flyby image I chose a location that offered a good foreground subject (water) and scope to cover the entire east/west horizon. Planning involved choosing an evening where the ISS would fly over my location numerous times (in one night) and a look at the weather forecast to ensure clear skies. Armed with a one man tent and all my camera gear I headed off and arrived on site late evening on June 11th. The first ISS pass was due at 2300hrs and subsequent passes every 90 mins. The plan was twofold 1) Set up one camera waterside and take continuous 15sec exposures for the entire night 2) Use a second camera for each ISS pass in different locations at the site. In between passes I would grab a short power nap huddled in the tent. Not a very comfortable evening but the resulting images made up for it. Using stacking software I produced two composite images, one detailing the ISS passes alone and the other including a star trail from the entire evening.
The star trails and bright light (moon) is the resulting visible effect of earth’s rotation. The location choice was also perfect as the morning mist makes for an eerie scene, perfectly complementing the ISS pass. The images made the national press the following day, which was very pleasing. One final word about capturing the ISS – it is due to be decommissioned (crashed into the sea) in 2020, so be quick!
Captured with Olympus E5 & 8mm fisheye – 2 ISS flybys, each comprising approx 12 images. Final stacked composite Credit: Mark Humpage
Win a chance to have Nick Howes (@NickAstronomer on twitter) equipment consultant for Astronomy now image your favorite object using the almost Hubble sized mirror of the amazing Faulkes Telescopes. One in Hawaii one in Asutralia…the choice is yours?
For every Perseid meteor spotted and tweeted over the next two nights for the Meteor Map, each tweet will be entered into the #meteorwatch competition and the winner randomly selected.
So don’t forget to tweet #meteorwatch, 1st part of your postcode, Country code and how many meteors you just saw.
Share your #meteorwatch experience and have fun 🙂
Robotic Telescopes
Faulkes Telescope operates a network of research class robotic telescopes. Currently there are two telescopes, one in Hawaii and the other in Australia each with mirrors nearly the same size as Hubble costing £5,000,000
Discover the wonders of our dark skies with Dr Marek Kukula, Public Astronomer at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich. (Special Guest appearance by meteorwatch.org)
Meteors streaking across the sky are an amazing sight. Every time I see a meteor is a thrilling moment.
I’m not a professional astronomer or even a specialized expert. I’ve just been watching the skies for meteors and showing others how to spot them for a long time. I particularly enjoy helping people who have never seen a meteor before experience their first sighting. My greatest success is watching the Perseid Meteor shower together with my kids while we were camping in the mountains together. It is an emotional memory that we’ll share all our lives.
Watching meteors is special because it truly takes no special equipment whatsoever. Telescopes or cameras just restrict your field of view – for best viewing simply lie back and enjoy the sky in front of your own eyes.
Meteorwatch itself is special for a lot of reasons. It is a world-wide event of professional and amateur astronomers getting together to share the heaven’s most showy display of the year. It’s an opportunity to collect real data that may be useful for astronomers to work with to increase our understanding of space. For me, meteorwatch is a chance to share my excitement with others who have never seen the beauty of a meteor flashing overhead.
Our goal for meteorwatch is to increase the odds for everyone to find meteors. Meteorwatch occurs August 12 through August 14 to correspond with the Perseid Meteor shower. The Perseids are a predictable shower that comes every year. In fact, meteors from the Perseids have been observed for about 2000 years already! The meteors are frequent and fairly bright, so it’s likely that you’ll be able to spot one if you go out prepared.
The first step of being prepared is that you need to find the darkest place you can find, as far away as possible from lights that will disrupt your night vision. If the moon is out while you’re observing, try to block it as best as you can with trees or a hill so you don’t look at it and ruin your night vision. If your night vision does get disrupted, you will not be able to see the dimmer meteors at all, so keep your eyes up and don’t pull out your phone to tweet every few minutes.
It’s true that Perseid meteors will likely come at between one and two meteors every minute, but you won’t be able to see that many because most of them are dim and washed out by city lights. The darker it is, the more meteors you will see! When I’m in a reasonably dark area near the outskirts of my city I’m happy to see one meteor every five minutes or so. If you can’t get out of the city, you may have to wait longer because you will only see the brightest meteors. There are plenty of sightings from the heart of cities, so it’s not impossible, just more difficult. It’s certainly worth an attempt if you can find a park without lights or some other dark area near you.
The second step is to make sure that you’re comfortable while waiting. A good chair that supports your neck while you look up is helpful. Even though the Perseids occur during summer, the nights can get quite chilly so dress warmly and bring something warm to drink.
The third step is to keep it an enjoyable outing. Some people like to go out alone and listen to music while waiting. That’s great too, but I usually tell first-timers to go out in groups. I especially encourage people to take their kids out. Young eyes may see phantom meteors at first, but once they get the hang of it they’ll spot meteors too dim for you or I to spot any more. Kids are fantastic at spotting meteors and it encourages them to be interested in the world around them. Besides, who wouldn’t appreciate a late night out once in a while?
The most frequent question I get asked year after year has been, “Where should I look in the sky to see the meteors?” In the past I’ve tried to describe how to find the constellation Perseus, but it’s rather unnecessary. Accustom your eyes to the dark, and after you’ve seen three or four meteors you should be able to figure out where Perseus is in the sky all on your own! It’s most important to look up, be relaxed and patient, and the meteors will dazzle in front of you as long as you are willing to watch.
Unfortunately, we don’t all get clear skies. Some of us are clouded out and have no chance at spotting meteors above us, but that doesn’t mean you’re out of luck. Follow the #meteorwatch hashtag on twitter for tips, pictures, radio observing and to share your experiences with other enthusiasts around the world. Go to www.meteorwatch.org for news and information and be sure to follow twitter.com/VirtualAstro for fantastic coverage of the Perseid Meteor shower direct from his Astrobunker.
Mark Zaugg is an amateur astronomer and enthusiast who particularly enjoys introducing people to the excitement of seeing a meteor in person. You can find him at twitter.com/Zarquil
