ISS passing again 18th oct

(yawn)
oh excuse me....
even I'm getting bored of these shots....

I though I'd put this up here for no other reason only that
I'm bored and it was actually (in some strange nerdy way) still a bit of a kick to be able to pick out where & when (with the help of Heavens Above .com!) the ISS was going to be.

The weather here is REALLY getting to me...

Dave L. and I have been trying to get an image of the ISS for a while now
through the obsesinator
(check out;


shannonsideastronomy.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=73
for updates....if you care)

Anyway here is said shot from tonight.
It was actually pretty cool to see the bright dot of the ISS fade in and out through the clouds.

If its clear tomorrow night then I'm on to try again, we'll see.

Frank, I never tire of watching the ISS go past - it's the realisation that although the space age is 50 years old and it's getting on for 40 years since men went to the Moon, it is only the last 7 years that there has been a constant presence of mankind in space - aboard the ISS. In that sense we really are just at the beginning of the exploration of space!

In terms of catching the ISS with a camera, I reckon a DSLR stands a better chance than a webcam - the bigger chip area weights the odds in your favour and as you say, you only need one shot!

I actually think it's relatively easy to do with a webcam.
Moreso over a DSLR.
You just need to be well organized and prepared.
In fact, guiding the scope by hand is even more beneficial than by
any tracking system because if the tracking system is off by only a tiny amount,
then the whole pass is lost.
If you guide by hand and the telrad is aligned 100% then you stand a better
chance of catching something.
sometimes you will get nothing but for the second or two you do, thats enough...
and with frame rate set at 30 you should have no problems getting a good few clear captures.

Well, we should have another shuttle / iss encounter soon enough....
bigger target and more interesting to boot!