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February 4, 2020 ISS Lunar Transit
The Moon was high in the sky at an altitude of 71 degrees, so the ISS image is larger than other images I have captured in the past. Below is a composite of 6 images taken from the video.
I centered the field of view between the predictions from the Two Line Elements provided by NASA and Space-Track.org. The actual path was somewhere in the middle.
Equipment used: Meade 10" F/10 LX200GPS telescope, No Focal Reducer, Watec 902H CCD Video Camera and KIWI OSD Video Time-inserter connected to a Garmin-18 LVC GPS.
Click play below to see the video of the transit
August 5, 2017 ISS Lunar Transit
This transit was in my own back yard, and about two weeks before I set off to Idaho to view the Total Eclipse of the Sun. My telescope's electronics no longer work, so it won't goto or track anymore, but the optics are still good. I pointed the scope a few hours early to a known star that was at the extact Alt/Az as the transit. Then all I had to do was wait.
Equipment used: Meade 10" F/10 LX200GPS telescope, No Focal Reducer, Watec 902H CCD Video Camera and KIWI OSD Video Time-inserter connected to a Garmin-18 LVC GPS.
Click play below to see the four-second video of the transit
Click play below to see the full two minute video of the moon drifting through the field of view
November 10, 2008 ISS Lunar Transit
Additional solar panels have been deployed since my last attempt over two years ago. This would be an excellent opportunity to video record the transit since the ISS was to be at a range of only 242 miles. I traveled a few miles to get to the observing site in Livermore, CA. In the field, I did not see the ISS transit at all. It was only until I returned home and reviewed the video tape, that I noticed a very fast streak just catch the upper right corner of the field of view.
Equipment used: Meade 10" F/10 LX200GPS telescope, No Focal Reducer, Watec 902H CCD Video Camera and KIWI OSD Video Time-inserter connected to a Garmin-18 LVC GPS.
The four-second video of the transit can be seen here:
October 6, 2006 ISS Lunar Transit
This would be my first attempt at an ISS lunar transit after the deployment of the new solar arrays. The ISS was going to be at a range of only 260 miles. Thanks to the e-mail from Thomas Fly's ISS Transit Alert service, I knew in advance that I had to travel 15 miles to get to the observing site just outside Tracy, CA. After obtaining the latest orbital elements from Space-Track.org and entering them into SkyMapPro, I knew where to point my telescope. The transit would occur very near impact crater Tycho! The composite image above consists of 6 frames (12 fields) with the ISS moving right to left.
Equipment used: Meade 10" F/10 LX200GPS telescope, No Focal Reducer, Watec 902H CCD Video Camera and the KIWI OSD Video Time-inserter connected to a Garmin-18 LVC GPS.
The four-second video of the transit can be seen in various formats:
Windows Media: low bandwidth 137 KB, high bandwidth 1.04 MB
Animated GIF: 360x240 801 KB, 720x480 2.72 MB
Mpeg-1: 360x240 993 KB
Mpeg-2: 720x480 3.25 MB
February 13, 2006 ISS Lunar Transit
When I received the e-mail from Thomas Fly's ISS Transit Alert service, I knew right away I had to attempt this transit. The ISS was going to be at a range of only 238 miles, closer than any other transit that I have attempted. Even though I had to travel 50 miles to get to a suitable observing site just outside Newman, CA, it would be worth the drive from my home in Livermore, CA. I scouted out a location during the day and kept an eye out for the latest elements from Space-Track.org. An updated Two Line Element set was posted about 30 minutes before the transit which allowed me to zoom in on a specific location of the moon. Equipment used: Meade 10" F/10 LX200GPS telescope, No Focal Reducer, Watec 902H CCD Video Camera and the KIWI OSD Video Time-inserter connected to a Garmin-18 LVC GPS. The composite image above consists of 4 frames (8 fields) with the ISS moving right to left.
The five-second video of the transit can be seen in various formats:
Windows Media: 360x240 low bandwidth 165 KB, 360x240 high bandwidth 247 KB, 720x480 high bandwidth 982 KB
Animated GIF: 360x240 846 KB, 720x480 2.1 MB
Mpeg-1: 360x240 1.2 MB
Mpeg-2: 720x480 3.0 MB
January 30, 2004 ISS Lunar Transit
The ISS was at a range of only 271 miles for this transit. The predicted center line was only 2.3 miles from home. Once again, I scouted a location during the day. And once again, at the time of the event there were thin clouds in front of the moon. The ISS was not positioned as favorably as in the November 8, 2003 event (see below), but nevertheless, I'm satisfied with the video and composite image. The composite image actually consists of 4 frames with the ISS moving right to left (the fourth image of the ISS is within the lunar terminator between two craters -- if you look carefully in the large image, you can make out the solar panels). Equipment used: 10" F/10 LX200GPS, No Focal Reducer, and Watec 902H CCD Video Camera. Audio from WWV. FOV: 7.75’ x 5.875’
Click here to see 2 second MPG video (320x240, 388KB)
Click here to see 2 second WMV video (720x480, 581KB)
Note: Once again the ISS flies in and out of the FOV very quickly (4 frames).
Alert information for this transit
SkyMapPro map for this transit
Click
here to see a map of the observing
site for this transit
November 8, 2003 ISS Lunar Transit
This was my first attempt to video an ISS transit in which I had to go mobile. Since the ISS was going to be at a range of only 264 miles (that's twice as close as the event on July 12, 2003, below), I decided I would attempt it. The predicted center line was only about 10 miles from my home in Livermore, CA. I selected an observing location near Tracy, CA during the day. There were thin clouds at the time of the event with a relative humidity of 100% and temperature 54 degrees F. Despite the weather, the result was a spectacular video of the event! Equipment used: 10" F/10 LX200GPS, No Focal Reducer, and Watec 902H CCD Video Camera. Audio from WWV. FOV: 7.75’ x 5.875’
Click here to see the 556KB video
Note: The ISS flies in and out of the field of view in about one-tenth of a second (3 frames). Those of you using QuickTime to view the video can single-step through frames using the arrow keys. You can also pause the video and use the horizontal slider to move to the frames which include the ISS.
Alert information for this transit
SkyMapPro map for this transit
Click
here to see Thomas Fly's Analysis for this
transit
UPDATED, September 30, 2005: I now use VirtualDub to create composite images, with the ViewFields filter. These tools allow me to extract fields (60 per second) instead of frames (30 per second), which produce twice as many still images to go into the composite image. This Lunar Transit Image has been updated using this new technique.
July 12, 2003 ISS Lunar Transit
Video taken July 12, 2003 from my backyard in Livermore, CA. Equipment used: 10" F/10 LX200GPS, No Focal Reducer, and Watec 902H CCD Video Camera. Audio from WWV. FOV: 7.75’ x 5.875’
Click here to see the 165KB video
Alert information for this transit
SkyMapPro map for
this transit
June 30, 2023 ISS Solar Transit
This transit was captured from my backyard in Santa Clarita, California. It's my first transit since moving from Livermore, California. Below is a composite taken from the video.
I centered the field to align with the Two Line Elements provided by Space-Track.org. The actual path was very close to the prediction.
Equipment used: Meade 10" F/10 LX200GPS telescope, No Focal Reducer, Watec 902H CCD Video Camera and KIWI OSD Video Time-inserter connected to a Garmin-18 LVC GPS.
Click play below to see the video of the transit
September 12 and 15, 2006 ISS/Atlantis Solar Transits
September 12
I was able to catch two ISS solar transits the same week while the Space Shuttle Atlantis was docked to it. In both instances, the Sun was too low in the sky to get sharp details. These transits were part of a busy week for me which included mobile observations of the El Nath graze and the occultation of a star by the asteroid Vibilia only 5 hours before the September 15th transit.
The above composite image was taken from the video. Unfortunately the video tape was defective, so there is a significant "wave" to the video and images. Nevertheless, the transit is clearly visible, and it is unlikely that a good video tape would have been able to show us both the ISS and Atlantis in significant detail. This map shows the Sun, along with my CCD camera field of view and the NASA element path prediction. The ISS was at a range of 935 miles. Equipment used: Meade 10" F/10 LX200GPS telescope with Solar Filter, No Focal Reducer, Watec 902H CCD Video Camera and the KIWI OSD Video Time-inserter connected to a Garmin-18 LVC GPS.
Windows Media video of ISS/Atlantis transit: 467 KB
An interesting side note to this transit is that less than a minute following the transit, a plane zoomed by in the field of view. Not too surprising, since I live nearby Livermore airport.
Windows Media video of plane transit: 225 KB
September 15
The transit prediction for my home was right on the edge of the Sun, where there was a chance of a miss. This map shows the Sun, along with my CCD camera field of view and the Space-Track.org element path prediction. The ISS was at a range of 506 miles. Equipment used: Meade 10" F/10 LX200GPS telescope with Solar Filter, No Focal Reducer, Watec 902H CCD Video Camera and the KIWI OSD Video Time-inserter connected to a Garmin-18 LVC GPS.
Windows Media video: 185 KB
Mpeg1 video: 487 KB
August 29, 2006 ISS Solar Transit
The first alert I received for this transit had my home right on the center line. The final alert had me only 0.2 miles from the path edge. To complicate matters, CalSky and the Space-Track.org elements had my home outside the path. Only the NASA elements had me inside the path edge. This map shows the Sun, along with my CCD camera field of view, the NASA element path and the Space-Track element path. The actual ISS path split the difference and was barely inside the Sun's edge. The ISS was at a range of 342 miles. Equipment used: Meade 10" F/10 LX200GPS telescope with Solar Filter, No Focal Reducer, Watec 902H CCD Video Camera and the KIWI OSD Video Time-inserter connected to a Garmin-18 LVC GPS. The composite image above consists of 5 frames (10 fields) with the ISS moving bottom to top. Sunspot complex 905 is on the left side of the field of view.
The four-second video of the transit can be seen in various formats:
Windows Media: low bandwidth 119 KB, high bandwidth 928 KB
Animated GIF: small 508 KB, large 1.94 MB
September 30, 2005 ISS Solar Transit
Wow, it has been over a year and a half since my last successful attempt to video record a transit. This transit was actually the second in as many weeks that was visible from my backyard. The first transit was a no show, but this one did not disappoint. The ISS was at a range of 376 miles. The composite image consists of 6 frames (12 fields) with the ISS moving right to left. Equipment used: 10" F/10 LX200GPS, No Focal Reducer, Watec 902H CCD Video Camera and my new KIWI OSD Video Time-inserter connected to a Garmin-18 LVC GPS.
Click here to see 2 second WMV video (720x480, 475KB)
Alert information for this transit
SkyMapPro map for this transit
June 1, 2003 ISS Solar Transit
Video take June 1, 2003 from my backyard in Livermore, CA. Sunspot region 373 is to the left as the ISS flies past below. Equipment used: 10" LX200GPS, F/3.3 Focal Reducer, Solar Filter, & Watec 902H CCD Video Camera. FOV: 19.92' x 15.00'
Click here to see the 205KB video
Alert information for this transit
SkyMapPro map for
this transit
A few hours before the predicted transit event, I download the latest ISS orbital elements from the NASA Spaceflight web site and Space-Track.org. I then load the elements closest to the prediction time into SkyMap Pro. From there I print out a map which provides details of the transit, including Altitude & Azimuth, direction of ISS, time of transit and CCD Field of View. Other resources I use are Heavens Above and Cal Sky.
