November 18, 2020 – ISS rises from the trees

November 18, 2020 ISS passes out of view

November 19, 2020 ISS rises above the trees next to the Moon, Jupiter, and Saturn

November 19, 2020 ISS on a long overhead pass

November 19, 2020 ISS sets, with airplane photobomber

I had so much fun seeing Dragon chase the International Space Station that I decided to do some experiments with long-exposure satellite photography.  The International Space Station, as the brightest of the satellites, is a good subject, and we had some more good passes this week.

On Wednesday, November 18, 2020, the now-docked Dragon and Space Station passed to the side of a crescent Moon, Jupiter, and Saturn.  I tried two minute long exposures to catch a long pass.

On Thursday, November 19, 2020, the now-docked Dragon and Space Station flew almost overhead, but at twilight.  The sky was much too bright to use a 2 minute exposure, so I dialed it back to one minute.  And, because the long pass went almost directly overhead, I had to turn the camera around in the middle.  As the Space Station was setting, an airplane (seen as a line of pairs of lights) flew in front of it and their paths crossed in the photograph.  They almost, but not quite, were in the same direction at the same time.

Note that with the long exposures, the lovely crescent Moon turned into a starburst.  Note also the change in the Moon’s position relative to Jupiter and Saturn in one day.

When I try this again, I think I will use my sky-tracking mount so there aren’t star trails.

Camera Geek Info Wednesday November 18

• Canon EOS 60D in manual mode set at f/8, 119 second exposure (1) and 103 second exposure (2), ISO 250, custom white balance 3500K
• Sigma 10-20 mm f/4-5.6 lens, set at 10 mm, manual focus
• Intervalometer with bulb at 2 minutes, intervals at 2 minutes and 1 second
• Tripod

Camera Geek Info Thursday November 18

• Canon EOS 60D in manual mode set at f/16, 59 second exposure, ISO 100, custom white balance 3500K
• Sigma 10-20 mm f/4-5.6 lens, set at 10 mm, manual focus
• Intervalometer with bulb at 1 minute, intervals at 1 minute and 1 second
• Tripod