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OK, so I printed out some detailed information from CalSky.com and set out around 4:00 pm today on a 10 mile trip through the mountains of northern Georgia. I reached the area where I had found a logging road going straight through the centerline of the ISS as it was to pass the disk of the moon. I had to hike around 400 yards up the side of a hill, carrying my 50 lb. 6" reflector and a backpack with my camera gear and accessories.

I had the scope leveled with a rough polar alignment (used a compass to align as true north as I could), motor drive attached and tracking the moon, and the Nikon D40 attached with 30 minutes to spare. I took the following picture to show the setup and surroundings.

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So, after taking the image above I set myself in front of the scope and watched the clock. Around 2 minutes before the scheduled pass I started to take some images to test for exposure and focus. Unfortunately, when the time came for the pass I hesitated for just a second or two and zoooooom! I could see a streak of white light shoot out from the moon and out of the viewfinder in a millisecond. Man, the ISS is really moving!

So, I knew I didn't capture the ISS crossing the moon, but I thought I might have got it when I saw the streak of light through the viewfinder. I drove all the way back to the cabin in a rather sad mood. I didn't expect it to happen that fast. I don't know why though, CalSky.com says the transit is 1.02 seconds. Doh! Anyway, at least I captured the following image, and I now know that it would be best to capture this with video or let the continuous mode roll for 30 seconds or so before the transit time, which is what I had planned.

Here's the ISS just after passing the moon:

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Also, it looks like I have a chance to capture the ISS crossing the disk of the sun on Sunday. Stay tuned for updates on that!

Stephen

Tags: moon iss