5th September 2021

 

 

After the usual break in ISS flyby events I was really waiting for the first chance to take photos of the International Space Station.  Mainly because since the Nauka module arrived I haven’t got the chance to take my own images. Luckily there is an ever growing community of photographers all around the world with capable equipment and dedication, so I already sow incredible photos in this new configuration. But I still wanted to take my own photos of it. My very first opportunity came up for the 5th September, a very early flyby. Luckily it was a Sunday, so it didn’t ruin my day to wake up very very early. These are the details of the event.

 

 

This angle isn’t the best to observe anything on the nadir (Earth facing) side of the station, simply because the station appears almost right above us. I could still manage to identify the SpaceX Dragon-2 spacecraft for Crew-2 on the zenith (space facing) side, the SpaceX CRS-23 cargo Dragon spacecraft docked to Harmony forward docking port and the iROSA solar arrays too.

 

Equipment
Skywatcher 250/1200 Flextube dobson telescope
Zwo ASI224MC camera
TeleVue 2.5x powermate
TMS-Astro Eq-platform

London, UK

 

22nd September 2021

 

 

The second attempt happened weeks later, at the beginning of the evening flyby events. This time I was using a slightly different setup. Instead of the ASI224MC camera I was testing (again) an ASI174MM camera. Also the 2.5x powermate I usually use was temporarily replaced with a 4x powermate. Here are the flyby details. I was looking forward to this, mainly because of the lower elevation. When ISS doesn’t reach zenith, but instead its maximum elevation ‘only’ peaks at around 60-70° above horizon, it gives us the perfect opportunity to look at the station a bit sideways. These are the details of the flyby.

 

 

On this stacked image the Nauka module is easily recognisable. But I included a render photo as well to give a bit of help to identify modules on the ISS – hope it helps. 

 

 

This is a video summary of the whole Nauka launch and docking events how I saw those few weeks of events with my telescope.

 

Equipment
Skywatcher 250/1200 Flextube dobson telescope
Zwo ASI174MM camera
TeleVue 4x powermate
TMS-Astro Eq-platform

London, UK

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