Passing almost directly overhead (83 degees) on 22nd April 2011 were the automated Russian cargo vehicle Progress 41P and the International Space Station. Progress 41P first appeared in the West at 9:48 p.m. followed just one minute later by the International Space Station (ISS). Both disappeared from view in the ENE at an elevation of 25 degrees. In this image both tracks are overlaid as they were both in the same orbit. It was a fantastic sight with just a layer of thin high cloud preventing perfection (and preventing me from imaging).
I am pretty impressed with the freezing power of the HSF “Ultra” units and the fantastic images they can give of water drop collisions. BUT – the limitations of stills photography makes itself very apparent when you take high-speed video footage of the same water drop collision events. In the following two HS videos Tony Allen of Panache Productions shows what can be done when you put a “Phantom” high-speed video camera in the right hands!
A first for me, and the first new image for the Scientific Artist 🙂 Managed to capture the International Space Station crossing my southern horizon last night – Sunday March 6th at 6:57 p.m. There will be another crossing tonight at 7:23 p.m. try to see it if you can – it is an amazing sight!
Caught using the Canon 5D with the fish-eye lens and ISO100 at f#8, 3-minute exposure which was the time of the crossing (long one!). Tonight’s crossing will also be a long 3-minute one as well.
So this has now whetted my appetite – I now want to image the station itself, which is a MUCH more difficult job. I will put the 5D onto the Megrez 80mm refractor with a x5 Barlow lens. Focusing and tracking are going to be very tough, but hey the Scientific Artist is up to the challenge. Let’s see how many goes it takes for me to get this image 🙂
Click on the above image to get a bigger version where the trail is more visible.
