Yesterday (3-Feb-2019) I photoed an Iridium flare just five minutes after sunset in what was still daylight. However as you can see, I caught only half of the flare.
Iridium flare 3 /2/2019
Here are two photos that describe the flare. The first shows its path along the state of Israel and the second one show its path in the sky. The starts are there but can't be seen of course.
Flare central line over Israel
Flare in sky
It is important to understand that in such case it is extremely important to be near he central line as possible. Even few kilometers east or west of it and the flare will not be visible. during the night one can be tens of kilometers away but not during the day.
I choose a spot on the central line and setup my camera using the smart phone compass, and about 20
seconds before the pass start to record a video.
The flare was very bright and very short, and the final result is seen in the photo at the beginning of the post.
The camera is much more sensitive than the human eye, and recorded some seconds of the flare but
unfortunately I didn't aim it to the correct spot.
So what went wrong? I wanted to use a larger focal length to capture a long and wide flare. using longer focal length require precision so it is better to use lower focal length. Also since the flare moves from top to bottom (or bottom to top), putting the camera vertically will give mush more space for errors. So more is less. More zoom, less space for errors, and I should use 50mm instead of 70mm.
To summarize here is an old video showing rare double daytime Iridium! At least I got that right!
And to finish the post, we will add a great sunset photo after the flare
On Sunday 28/12/2014 I finally managed to photograph the ISS crossing the moon. The timing and location must be very accurate. The moon is only half a degree in the sky and the time it takes the ISS to pass over the moon is less than a second. Here is the video. The details and explanation will follow. Make sure to watch the video in full screen mode with 1080HD resolution.
I wrote a general article in the past about how to use the Heaves-Above (HA) site to find when the ISS is passing over you and how you can spot and see the ISS. For this pass I saw that the path is very near the moon and even crossing it, but accuracy is very important. The moon is not that far from Earth even a change of 1km in the observer's location will give a slightly different path which can miss the moon.
The ISS and the moon just after the pass
When I checked the details of this path I first got the following map. The map looks very promising, the ISS is crossing the moon right from my house. Home sweet home. I can arrange all the equipment on my roof in peace and have a nice hot cup of coffee.
Usually when I check in which constellation the ISS passes it is enough but for the moon you should press the map to get a larger resolution which is better. And in that map, we can see that the ISS is NOT crossing the moon., What a shame. But not all is lost.
What I did was to go to the site settings and switch my location to many small towns nearby. With some trial and error I found out that I need to be some 6km south from my house in a small village named Ganot. Not a problem (You can use CalSky site to get email notifications on close passes). Still I was not sure if HA is accurate enough and if the ISS will actually pass over or just very near to the moon.
I used 3 different cameras. Canon SX50 which has a very large zoom (1200mm equivalent) for the closeup, Canon 700d with 18-250 (@250) for the first video and also a Sony DSLR for still photos with long exposure.
The setup of all camera took about 20 minutes and as I was very busy with it I hardly saw the pass itself with my eyes so I was not sure whether it passed over the moon. I took some more photos at the end of the pass. Here is the ISS in the constellation Cetus (The whale)
The ISS in Cetus
The pass was over and I was very excited to see what I got on the videos. I played the videos on the small cameras' screens and was very happy to see a tiny dot on both videos, but even than I couldn't be sure that it is good or that the focus is OK and so I drove back home and immediately went to the computer to look what is in the videos.
The results were edited into the video in the beginning of this post with the OpenShot software.
A pass on the moon is quite rare and if you attempt to photograph one use either video with the highest fps you can (My video is with 30fps 60 and more are better) or use high burst of single photos. Better to use several cameras and try different setups.
Here are some more of my best videos
Shavit 2 was the first satellite that Israel launched to space. The rocket launched on July 5th 1961 and Israel joined the distinguished "space club" a very short list of countries who are able to develop, build and launch a satellite by their own means ( in 1961 there were only 6 countries in the "club" : US, USSR, UK, Japan, Italy, France). The rocket itself was a very simple rocket with some instruments for meteorological research. the rocket was very small, but to make it look much bigger it was put on a high stand and photographed from a very low angel to look like one of the big American rockets. In fact its length was just about 4 meter.
Many of Israel VIP attended the historical launch. The prime minister and secretary of defnse, David Ben Gurion, his deputy Shimon Peres (Current presiodent of Israel) , Zvi Zur, Brigadir General and more.
History is funny as the only country to congratulate Israel for its achievement was Turkey. Nor the white house, neither the Kremlin (And the times were the hot days of the cold war) gave any official response.
Replica of Shavit 2 actual size: Photographed by: Tal Inbar
Israel ministry of Defense recently relieved the following video. Notice how big the rocket looks in the film (remember that the lower part is just a stand, not a real phase). The video is without sound so the usual roar of the launch is not heard. David Ben Gurion, hearing explanations and you might recognize Peres and Rabin in the film as well.
The launch was a very important achievement for the new state of Israel only 13 years old.
Iridium flares are bright flashes of light caused by sunlight reflected from any of the Iridium satellites. We wrote about how to see the ISS an another satellites before, but this time I will present a photo of a double Iridium flare. It seems odd since the satellites are spread evenly across the sky, so how come there will be two flares in less than 2 minutes in the exact same place? The answer is that one of the satellites is active and the other one is an old one or a backup one. This is the case with the pair Iridium14 and Iridium62 satellites who gave the double flash seen below.
The exposure is for 13 seconds. I couldn't take longer exposure because there were high clouds reflecting some remaining sun light (the photos were taken shortly after sunset). Seems I missed a few seconds from the second flare (the lower) I've cropped the relevant part and stacked two photos together. I hope you will like the result:
The ISS is the brightest unnatural objects in the skies, brighter even than Jupiter, and in rare occasions even from Venus. You can compere its brightness to the well known constellation of Orion. The photo is from 2008 and since than the ISS got bigger so it is even brighter!
During the evening there was a great ISS pass. Although the skies were very cloudy I manage to observe the pass, together with 5 great children (To whom I give basic astronomy course).
The ISS moved in the Summer triangle, which in this season is already starts to set during the evenning.
Attached are two photos of the ISS and Lyra constellation. I've added some line to give the familiar shape of Lyra. You will probably need to enlarge the photo to see Lyra stars, but bright Vega is clearly visible. The ISS is the long scratch at the left side.
It is easy to view and see the International Space Station (ISS), you only need to know where to look and what to look for. The near space around us is constantly active. Dozens of satellites circle the earth in different orbits. Many satellites can be viewed from Earth shortly after sunset or sunrise. Satellites do not shine their own light, but can be seen as they reflect the bright sun light.
Despite the difference between a satellite and an airplane, it is possible to confuse between the two. Eye equipped, satellite seen as a single point of light which is not flashing, in a single color and moving quickly in the sky. Aircrafts, on the contrary, are usually seen as several colored lights, flashing and moving much slower. In addition, the apparent brightness of a satellite varies relatively in fast pace during the transition, and the airplane brightness varies much slowly. The satellite disappears when it enters the Earth's shadow and does not receive more sunlight (or appears when it comes out from Earth’s shadow and starts to receive light from the sun). When the sun is low below the horizon satellites can not be seen (During the summer, satellites can be seen almost the entire night). Several reasons to observe satellites can be found at this link. With little experience, you will be able to point a moving dot in the sky as a satellite.
Large satellites
The satellites which are the most comfortable for watching are the largest: The International Space Station (ISS), space shuttles (STS - No more!) and the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The ISS is orbiting at an altitude of 350 km, with many visible transitions. At its peak, the station can reach brightness magnitude up to -4 (brighter than Jupiter and almost as bright as Venus). Space shuttle travels to the ISS occasionally. When the shuttle and the station had not yet joined, or soon after they parted, the pair can be seen as two successive points of light chasing one after the other on the same path within a few seconds to a minute difference. Repeated observations over two or three days will show how the two dots receding or approaching each other.
During one of the launches of a space shuttle, I noticed that it is already dark here at Israel. Although there were no data for the pass, I went up to the roof immediately after viewing the launch at NASA site and looked toward the approximate place where the shuttle had to appear (by my own calculations). In about 20 minutes after launch, a bright dot of light appeared exactly as expected. Much to my surprise soon after, another bright spot appeared on a similar route but dimmer. After thinking I concluded that the second point was none other than the external fuel tank of the shuttle. After a shuttle launch, its main fuel tank separate after about ten minutes, losing speed and altitude and finally falls into the Indian ocean waters. Since the phenomenon which I watched is quite rare (Because It can be seen only for about 20 minutes and at most of them from unpopulated areas), I found no other amateurs who viewed it. But I found confirmation that it exists in the following picture. Due to the low number of remaining shuttle missions the chance to see this behavior again is little (at least until the next generation of shuttles will be operational).
Even the Hubble Space Telescope can be seen with the naked eye. The HST cruise in higher orbit than the ISS (600 km) and is much smaller. Therefore, its visible magnitude is only about 1.5 at most. Space shuttle mission STS-125 in October 2008 was to upgrade and repair the telescope, giving him at least 5 more years to serve and sends more amazing pictures and data.
Iridium Flares
Another type of observation is on Iridium satellites. The Seattleites are in polar orbits (moving around the earth at an angle of 90 degrees to the equator), passing over the poles. The Iridium satellites are used for communication purpose from anywhere on Earth. Not all of them are operational but all still orbits the earth (except one which crashed in space with Russian satellite). The satellite brightness normally is barley seen with a naked eye but they have relatively large radio antennas which return the sunlight like a mirror to the area along an imaginary strip over the earth. Whoever found within the stripe or a short distance away, will see a flash in the skies for a few seconds. The closer to the center of the strip, the flash intensity is higher and take longer. Iridium flares can be seen almost every day. Particularly bright flashes can be seen even in daylight if the location of the flare in the sky is far enough from the sun (angular distance). This is the time to note that caution is required in observations that occur while the sun is in the sky, as it might cause irreversible damage to eye of the observer without protective measures.
Communications Satellites
Communications satellites are Geostationary. They circle the earth around the equator and remain at the same point in the sky all the time (Their speed is identical to the earth own rotation speed and their height is about 36,000 km). Such satellites are difficult to see and they will appear as a dim star. Their movement speed is very slow, in fact, they will move in the direction opposite the movement of the sky. If photographed without star tracking they will be sees as a single point (compared to stars which will produce arcs). If tracking is used they will appear as an arc while the starts are fixed as dots.
How to photo satellites
Photographing satellites is relatively easy. It requires aiming the camera at the corresponding area in the sky (using a wide field lens). It is best to find a nice constellation that the satellite will pass through, or integrate an Iridium flare with a lovely landscape (buildings, landscape, etc.). Use a long exposure of several seconds, or preferably in manual mode. The result is a strip of light passing through the constellation or in the landscape. Iridium satellite flares start as a narrow point, become wider and narrow again as can be seen in the photo.
Iridium flare in the constellation Lyra
When aiming the camera at the area of the satellite leaves or enters Earth's shadow, see how the brightness changed from white to red;
The Space station in the Virgo constellations. Entrance to the earth shadow is changing the brightness.
For telescopes owners
It is hard to observe satellites with a telescope due to the high speed of the object. Small satellites will look only as a bright dot, but the International Space Station structure can be seen at 60x magnifications and higher. Another interesting option is to watch satellite on as they move across the sun. This course requires use of special solar filter. Do not look at the sun without appropriate equipment or you will damage your eyes. Satellite's passage over the sun take around a second, but at least you know where to aim your well protected scope; similarly, one can see passes on the surface of the moon.
How to find satellites
You can of course watch the sky looking for satellites. When observing from a dark area you will usually see several satellites during the hour’s right after sunset or before sunrise. However, it is better to come prepared and download location information from the Internet before starting the observation.
Here's an example of two recommended sites.
HeavensAbove: Registration is not mandatory, but it helps to keep your data for future use. The use is required to choose is location (by country and city, or exact coordinates). The site is very friendly and easy to use, and provides detailed maps showings where every satellite should pass the sky (including the direction and height of the starting points, peak and end). The site includes information on the movement of planets and comets as well.
CalSky:This site is rich in information. You can perform queries and receive a detailed report that includes watching a lot of events. The reports are little harder to read but it provides much more information such as transitions over the sun or moon.
