Tuesday, August 6, 2013

The International Space Station


I went out east for observing last night, and got skunked.  There were clouds, but they were supposed to clear.  But they didn't. You can see them in this time exposure photograph of the sky - the clouds are blurred.  In between bands of clouds I was able to view parts of constellations for a bit.  But there was one very cool thing - there was a pass of the International Space Station.  You can find schedules online for times that it flies overhead where you live.  So I decided to do a time exposure and captured it as a long line bright in the photograph.  It is always a spectacular sight - it usually looks like the brightest star in the sky, moving from one horizon to the other in maybe 5 or 6 minutes.  You don't need any equipment to see this - just your unaided eyes.

2 comments:

Dean said...

Corona Borealis, Bootes, the handle of the dipper - do I win a prize? Sometimes the clouds add some interest to an otherwise (yawn) boring ISS picture! -Dean

Ken Spencer said...

DEAN WINS THE PRIZE! Finally, a winner of "the Big Cash Prize." I can say this because I know that Dean watches Craig Ferguson, and Craig is always offering "The Big Cash Prize" on his show! And you are definitely right - the clouds make the photo better. They do not, of course make the observing better.