Last night (9-10-03) at a little before midnight here in southern California, as I was scanning across the moon with a pair of 9mm Ortho’s in my binoviewer, something suddenly entered the field. At first I thought it was a plane, but then I realized that what I was looking at was very strange, not at all like the silhouette of a plane. It looked like a small, but very well defined, toy model of the space station. It was exquisitely rendered and although it was in silhouette against the moon it seemed to be three dimensional. I could easily see the various modules and panels that make up the station. Later I looked up the ISS orbit and sure enough, it had passed just south of California at that time.
I’ve seen pictures of the ISS taken through amateur instruments but this was much, much better. I think it was the combination of strong backlighting by the moon, the filter and the 9mm’s working at ~320x (n11) that made the great view. It was very fleeting though; it took only a second or two to transit the ~0.13* fov.
I don’t know how often the ISS can be seen transiting the moon from any given spot on the earth, but I think it might be somewhat rare. Has anybody else seen the ISS transiting the moon? Maybe somebody using satellite tracking software saw it last night too?
I’ve been meaning to try the satellite tracking software and this may have moved me off dead center. It was a very interesting view.
Clear Skies --- Don
I’ve seen pictures of the ISS taken through amateur instruments but this was much, much better. I think it was the combination of strong backlighting by the moon, the filter and the 9mm’s working at ~320x (n11) that made the great view. It was very fleeting though; it took only a second or two to transit the ~0.13* fov.
I don’t know how often the ISS can be seen transiting the moon from any given spot on the earth, but I think it might be somewhat rare. Has anybody else seen the ISS transiting the moon? Maybe somebody using satellite tracking software saw it last night too?
I’ve been meaning to try the satellite tracking software and this may have moved me off dead center. It was a very interesting view.
Clear Skies --- Don
