I think I caught the ISS (or a flea on my objective)

this is the main message area for anything solar :)
Post Reply
Starry Jack
Almost There...
Almost There...
Posts: 783
Joined: Tue Feb 03, 2015 3:44 pm
Location: Vista, CA
Has thanked: 141 times
Been thanked: 240 times
Contact:

I think I caught the ISS (or a flea on my objective)

Post by Starry Jack »

Anybody willing to confirm that this flea speck is the ISS? It does match the time and transit path. LOL
It's a 14MB video.

80mm f6.5 refractor with 2x Barlow
Quark (negative 5 setting)
2x Barlow
ASI174

Thanks,
Jack
TikTok 46 ISS.mp4
(14.59 MiB) Downloaded 83 times


Explore Scientific 152mm f6.5 achromat
Aeries D-ERF
Quark Chromosphere f27 native, (f14 when focal reduced)
Mallincam .5x focal reducer (large format)
12nm Filter
ZWO174 (IMX249 chip 5um)
Huge Sense of Adventure Viewing Creation
User avatar
DeepSolar64
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Posts: 18823
Joined: Thu Sep 05, 2019 12:19 am
Location: Lowndesville S.C.
Has thanked: 17572 times
Been thanked: 16694 times

Re: I think I caught the ISS (or a flea on my objective)

Post by DeepSolar64 »

I think you got it! Slowing the image down it can be seen a bit easier. It's obviously something small moving fast in front of the sun.


Lunt 8x32 SUNoculars
Orion 70mm Solar Telescope
Celestron AstroMaster Alt/Az Mount
Meade Coronado SolarMax II 60 DS
Meade Coronado SolarMax II 90 DS
Meade Coronado AZS Alt/Az Mount
Astro-Tech AT72EDII with Altair solar wedge
Celestron NexStar 102GT with Altair solar wedge
Losmandy AZ8 Alt/Az Mount
Sky-Watcher AZGTI Alt-Az GoTo mount
Cameras: ZWO ASI178MM, PGR Grasshopper, PGR Flea
Lunt, Coronado, TeleVue, Orion and Meade eyepieces

Image Visual Observer
" Way more fun to see it! "
Starry Jack
Almost There...
Almost There...
Posts: 783
Joined: Tue Feb 03, 2015 3:44 pm
Location: Vista, CA
Has thanked: 141 times
Been thanked: 240 times
Contact:

Re: I think I caught the ISS (or a flea on my objective)

Post by Starry Jack »

Hooray!!!!


Explore Scientific 152mm f6.5 achromat
Aeries D-ERF
Quark Chromosphere f27 native, (f14 when focal reduced)
Mallincam .5x focal reducer (large format)
12nm Filter
ZWO174 (IMX249 chip 5um)
Huge Sense of Adventure Viewing Creation
User avatar
DeepSolar64
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Posts: 18823
Joined: Thu Sep 05, 2019 12:19 am
Location: Lowndesville S.C.
Has thanked: 17572 times
Been thanked: 16694 times

Re: I think I caught the ISS (or a flea on my objective)

Post by DeepSolar64 »

Starry Jack wrote: Fri Sep 04, 2020 6:47 pm Hooray!!!!
👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻


Lunt 8x32 SUNoculars
Orion 70mm Solar Telescope
Celestron AstroMaster Alt/Az Mount
Meade Coronado SolarMax II 60 DS
Meade Coronado SolarMax II 90 DS
Meade Coronado AZS Alt/Az Mount
Astro-Tech AT72EDII with Altair solar wedge
Celestron NexStar 102GT with Altair solar wedge
Losmandy AZ8 Alt/Az Mount
Sky-Watcher AZGTI Alt-Az GoTo mount
Cameras: ZWO ASI178MM, PGR Grasshopper, PGR Flea
Lunt, Coronado, TeleVue, Orion and Meade eyepieces

Image Visual Observer
" Way more fun to see it! "
Starry Jack
Almost There...
Almost There...
Posts: 783
Joined: Tue Feb 03, 2015 3:44 pm
Location: Vista, CA
Has thanked: 141 times
Been thanked: 240 times
Contact:

Re: I think I caught the ISS (or a flea on my objective)

Post by Starry Jack »

I'm having doubts...I look at Alexandra's amazing captures (stolen here without permission) and I look at mine...maybe the FOV is different, but heck...mine is too fast for a bird but too small for ISS it seems to me? But the time and the transit path match...I'm just not sure:

Alexandra's:
Alexandra ISS Transit 50248805477_aca5245575_o.jpg
Alexandra ISS Transit 50248805477_aca5245575_o.jpg (522.73 KiB) Viewed 620 times
Alexandra ISS 50248605606_b37a168126_o.jpg
Alexandra ISS 50248605606_b37a168126_o.jpg (1.98 MiB) Viewed 620 times
Jack's:
Jack ISS Transit-09-04_16-34-51.jpg
Jack ISS Transit-09-04_16-34-51.jpg (68.42 KiB) Viewed 620 times


Explore Scientific 152mm f6.5 achromat
Aeries D-ERF
Quark Chromosphere f27 native, (f14 when focal reduced)
Mallincam .5x focal reducer (large format)
12nm Filter
ZWO174 (IMX249 chip 5um)
Huge Sense of Adventure Viewing Creation
User avatar
rsfoto
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Posts: 6161
Joined: Mon Jun 18, 2012 8:30 pm
Location: San Luis Potosi, México
Has thanked: 9411 times
Been thanked: 5571 times

Re: I think I caught the ISS (or a flea on my objective)

Post by rsfoto »

Hi Jack,

Could be and I guess now you know why it is important to know how the Sun depicts in your images and so the next time you can orient your FOV in such a way that you know where it is going to pass.

One thing you should not do is to try to chase it. Important is also to have a high frame rate.

Unfortunately these days there have not been much info on the Sun itself to get the correct orientation.

Perhaps next time. So far I have had only one succesfull ISS pass.

Just do not despair ;) ;) ;) ;)

This is a good page for predictions https://transit-finder.com/


regards Rainer

Observatorio Real de 14
San Luis Potosi Mexico

North 22° West 101°
User avatar
Carbon60
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Posts: 14209
Joined: Wed Mar 07, 2012 12:33 pm
Location: Lancashire, UK
Has thanked: 8418 times
Been thanked: 8162 times

Re: I think I caught the ISS (or a flea on my objective)

Post by Carbon60 »

Very debatable, Jack. On balance I would say not. I think it would have been larger and more defined had it been the ISS.

Stu.


H-alpha, WL and Ca II K imaging kit for various image scales.
Fluxgate Magnetometers (1s and 150s Cadence).
Radio meteor detector.
More images at http://www.flickr.com/photos/solarcarbon60/
User avatar
PDB
Almost There...
Almost There...
Posts: 702
Joined: Mon Aug 15, 2016 4:23 pm
Location: Belgium
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 149 times

Re: I think I caught the ISS (or a flea on my objective)

Post by PDB »

According to the info from Calsky in your previous post, the ISS is 30" in diameter. (size can vary a lot, but 30" is not that small)

Did the calculation right for an ASI174 but my figures seemed to large ....

Anyway 30" is in between the size of Mars and Jupiter, so should be clearly visible.

Paul


None of my posts or images may be shared on Facebook, Twitter or any other social media other than SolarChat without permission.
User avatar
DeepSolar64
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Posts: 18823
Joined: Thu Sep 05, 2019 12:19 am
Location: Lowndesville S.C.
Has thanked: 17572 times
Been thanked: 16694 times

Re: I think I caught the ISS (or a flea on my objective)

Post by DeepSolar64 »

If not the ISS then what would that object be that Jack caught quickly crossing the Sun? An insect? A bird?


Lunt 8x32 SUNoculars
Orion 70mm Solar Telescope
Celestron AstroMaster Alt/Az Mount
Meade Coronado SolarMax II 60 DS
Meade Coronado SolarMax II 90 DS
Meade Coronado AZS Alt/Az Mount
Astro-Tech AT72EDII with Altair solar wedge
Celestron NexStar 102GT with Altair solar wedge
Losmandy AZ8 Alt/Az Mount
Sky-Watcher AZGTI Alt-Az GoTo mount
Cameras: ZWO ASI178MM, PGR Grasshopper, PGR Flea
Lunt, Coronado, TeleVue, Orion and Meade eyepieces

Image Visual Observer
" Way more fun to see it! "
User avatar
Carbon60
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Posts: 14209
Joined: Wed Mar 07, 2012 12:33 pm
Location: Lancashire, UK
Has thanked: 8418 times
Been thanked: 8162 times

Re: I think I caught the ISS (or a flea on my objective)

Post by Carbon60 »

Hi James,

It's quite common to see 'stuff' transiting across the field of view, usually birds from around the garden or other local areas. Sometimes balloons are seen transiting more slowly and with a well defined shadow. I suspect Jack's transit was a bird.

Stu.


H-alpha, WL and Ca II K imaging kit for various image scales.
Fluxgate Magnetometers (1s and 150s Cadence).
Radio meteor detector.
More images at http://www.flickr.com/photos/solarcarbon60/
User avatar
Montana
Librarian
Librarian
Posts: 34563
Joined: Mon Oct 17, 2011 5:25 pm
Location: Cheshire, UK
Has thanked: 17672 times
Been thanked: 8791 times

Re: I think I caught the ISS (or a flea on my objective)

Post by Montana »

That is a hard one Jack. It is a great pity that just before the transit you seem to have zoomed in? What you need to do is be as far out as you can and leave the camera still. Let the ISS track across. If you have a fast frame rate then you should have at least a few frames in focus as long as the Sun was in focus.

Out of interest, Calsky will give you a good indication of size. The size of the ISS will depend on how far away it is from you. For my transit the distance was 557km away and 0.7 sec transit. I then got another alert at the end of August and this time the transit was nearly 3 seconds long but it was more than 2000 km away. It wasn't worth it, it would be minuscule.

What was your distance?

Alexandra


Starry Jack
Almost There...
Almost There...
Posts: 783
Joined: Tue Feb 03, 2015 3:44 pm
Location: Vista, CA
Has thanked: 141 times
Been thanked: 240 times
Contact:

Re: I think I caught the ISS (or a flea on my objective)

Post by Starry Jack »

Thanks all. I artificially zoomed in using a post processing solution to get detail. My object was about a minute after published transit time so I went looking for it incase I was simply wrong in all my calcs.

I've seen many birds and this did not feel like a bird so then I wondered if this was a satellite of another kind.

Sadly, none of my other satellite tracking programs showed a satellite transiting.

I agree it is not the ISS.

ONWARD to the next transit.

Calsky does not show history, does it? I don't see a way to look at past events and check my calcs.

Cheers,
Jack


Explore Scientific 152mm f6.5 achromat
Aeries D-ERF
Quark Chromosphere f27 native, (f14 when focal reduced)
Mallincam .5x focal reducer (large format)
12nm Filter
ZWO174 (IMX249 chip 5um)
Huge Sense of Adventure Viewing Creation
User avatar
Montana
Librarian
Librarian
Posts: 34563
Joined: Mon Oct 17, 2011 5:25 pm
Location: Cheshire, UK
Has thanked: 17672 times
Been thanked: 8791 times

Re: I think I caught the ISS (or a flea on my objective)

Post by Montana »

Jack, yes it does. I presume you are on your personal calendar. Make sure your location is accurate in your settings.

Go to Calendar
Set the date, time and duration. Set the day and maybe pick 9am, then a duration of 12 hours. Go to your ISS transit and in the description it shows the distance.

Alexandra
PS Calsky is accurate to the second so a minute over will be long gone. Make sure you have your location accurate and your time zone accurate in your settings. I would probably think you missed it due to not imaging in the correct part of the Sun. If you have a next time, try and get the camera so you can image the full disc, then you can get your orientations correct. In the library we have some helpful guides to getting orientation correct and try and match it with Tilting Sun and GONG to get a good feel for where you are.

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=28249


Post Reply