Picture taken from the UK on 1 August 2008 with a Canon EOS 350, 300mm lens, 2x converter and a home made solar filter. Camera set at ISO400 with an exposure of 1/250 of a second.
Warning observing the Sun is dangerous – never look at the Sun through a telescope or camera without the use of a properly secured, working solar filter.
My first Iridum flare captured on April 1, 2008. I used the Heavens-Above site to predict the position then set the EOS350 at ISO1600 with an 18mm lens and a 20 second exposure. I didn’t see the flare visually but it was bright and clear on the capture.
At the end of March, 2008 the European Automatic Transfer Vehicle (ATV) was being tested and orbitting close to the ISS. On 30th March I photographed them in the same patch of sky 2 minutes apart but on slightly different orbits. On 31st March they were much closer and I took a 68 second capture with the EOS350 at ISO1600 with an 18mm lens expecting the ISS and ATV to see parallel tracks. I kept the shutter open as first the ATV, then the ISS dissapeared into shadow. As it turned out they were on the exactly same orbit (as seen from Earth) and the ISS track “overwrote” the ATV.
The image on the right was the next day when I captured the ATV and ISS as seperate tracks using a 17 second capture with the EOS350 at ISO1600 with an 18mm lens. I estimate the ISS was about 22 seconds behind the ATV.
