Hi everyone.........
Today the sky over north west UK stayed clear and I embarked on a 120 mile
round trip to see if I could capture ISS on video , crossing the Sun on two
consecutive orbits.
I believe that this is the first time this has ever been done .(Fully
documented and caught on video )
Details were obtained using Tom Fly's ISS alert programme and CalSky
(CalSky.com )
Maps were drawn up pinpointing suitable locations , plus back up sites in
case the primary location was unsuitable .
Aerial photos were also consulted to ensure the locations chosen were not in
built up areas.
The first transit was the most northerly and occured at 1449:35 BST.
I then had just over ninety minutes to pack up my equipment , stow it in the
car and drive south , about ten miles to find the second site.
The second transit was scheduled for 1625:05 BST
Locations were identified using standard GPS...laptop was synchronised to
GPS time.
Both transits were captured.
Equipment
Meade LX90 8 " telescope supplied by BC&F London
Eyepiece projection using ToUcam webcam 10 fps at 1/1500th sec
Orion full aperture solar filter
Sunspot 431 provided a good reference point , with both tracks passing
north of the group.
Details are as follows , per CalSky.com ...... *the only info I'm missing at
present are the orbit numbers.
As soon as time allows I will put together two animations complete with
images from each site.
Regards,
John.
14h49m35.1s ISS Crosses the disk of Sun. Separation: 0.10d
Angular Velocity: 47.5'/s. Transit duration: 0.62s
Angular diameter: 8.9" cylindrical, 20.0m x 10.0m
Satellite at az: 213.6d SSW h: 46.8d dist: 517.5 km
Centerline: Lon:357d04m47s Lat: +53d42m21s dist: 1.16 km az: 5.4d
N Path direction: 81.1d E ground speed: 7.547 km/s
16h25m05.6s ISS Crosses the disk of Sun. Separation: 0.02d
Angular Velocity: 35.3'/s. Transit duration: 0.89s
Angular diameter: 7.4" cylindrical, 20.0m x 10.0m
Satellite at az: 241.3d WSW h: 36.4d dist: 620.5 km
Centerline: Lon:356d58m26s Lat: +53d37m37s dist: 0.39 km az: 26.6d
NNE Path direction: 99.5d E ground speed: 7.830 km/s
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