Image of ISS and sunspot 1057 conjuction

Another great image caught by amateur astrophotographers, this time John Stetson and his son Peter from Maine captured a rare event as the ISS passes across the front of the sun.

"We knew when to look thanks to a prediction from CalSky," says Stetson. "The International Space Station transited the solar disk in only 0.62 seconds. We managed to catch the station's silhouette just as it was passing sunspot 1057." Stetson has been photographing solar transits for years; he ranks this one as "the best yet."

Source: www.spaceweather.com...

reply to post by Chadwickus


Excellent one-of-a-kind image, Chadwickus... thanks for sharing it with us. As an avid ISS watcher, I frequently wonder how many thousands of dollars a person would have to spend for equipment that was capable of taking a photo of the ISS such that details of the craft would be visible.

After having taken several unremarkable dots of light in a field of black (or the occasional equally-unremarkable streak of light), I just have to be happy watching it fly over.

I took a photo when the Challenger had just undocked from the ISS -- they were a couple of hundred miles apart. TWO points of light in a black field WOOOO!

Stetson's intricate tracking of the ISS, along with the timing required to catch it as it transited the sunspot is remarkable.

cheers

reply to post by argentus


Thanks mate!

You should send a U2U to ngchunter and ask him what he uses.

He has taken some good shots of the ISS in the past.

What an amazing astropic, Chad! Thanks for sharing!

Last year John Stetson also caught what is know as an " Etruscan Vase moon" or "Omega moon" on film. Here are two of his photos of this rare and very beautiful phenomena:

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/378b0db91974.jpg[/atsimg]

Mirages such as this are possible when there is a layer of relatively warm air at the ocean surface with colder air above it, with a rapid drop in temperature the higher you go above the surface.

On the day these pictures were taken the water was 39F (4C) while the air well above it was a chilly 18F (-8C).

Light passing through the atmosphere bends away from the warmer air towards the colder, denser air, with the result that we see two moons, one a mirror image of the other.

The lower part of the image is formed by rays from the moon which are reflected upwards from the warm layer of air at the surface.

www.telegraph.co.uk...

You can find more photos of the "Omega moon" here:
www.atoptics.co.uk...

reply to post by ziggystar60


Great shots Ziggy.

Thnakyou for sharing.