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John Boudreau
member
Reged: 04/06/08
Posts: 52
Loc: Saugus, MA
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After several unsuccessful attempts in the past year to capture the ISS with my C11 via manually tracking, I finally had a good combination of exposure settings, ISS orientation, and just plain good luck on Monday night. Previously I had several good ISS captures with refractors in the 1000mm FL range, but manually tracking at the C11's 2800mm requires a bit more luck with the small CCD of my DMK21AF04.AS webcam..
I was in my backyard a few miles N of Boston, MA. where the pass reached a height of 82°, and the image was taken at about 01:10UT on August 5th ---shortly after it had reached it's highest point in the sky.
---John
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spacescenes.com
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FoxK
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 11/07/07
Posts: 1800
Loc: Cape Cod, MA
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Awesome capture John....I live about 30 miles SSE of you and was out imaging as well....it passed at 87° here...amazing what a view miles does to your view....i got only one pair of panels....the 2 mains were almost edge on and end on here. I'm happy tho since I been trying for 6 months to capture it hehe..hard for me with only an 80mm...using a 2x barlow kills alot of light 
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Orion 80mm ED Apo Refractor
8" Classic Dob (used as Newtonian on CG5 mount)
Meade 70-AZ-A 70mm Guider using PHD
LS60TCaK/B600/C
CG-5 Advanced GT Mount
Nikon D40x with T-Adaptors
Philips SPC900NC
Imaging Source DMK 21AU04.AS
Dome=the box my mount came in so I can see my solar images in bright sun lol
- click for cloud prediction for Plymouth, MA. area
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LLD
Lucky so far
Reged: 11/14/05
Posts: 1698
Loc: MASS.
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John That is a great picture of the ISS ,One of the best I've seen! Fox thats a pretty good picture too! I saw it in a pair of 10x50 bino's as it past over head in Sharon on Monday night next time i hope to watch it with my dob!
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LLD. Meade 16 inch dob. Meade 60mm Polaris refractor 76mm Bushnell reflector
Meade ETX60-BB,Meade 70MM / USB color camera
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Jeff in Austin
professor emeritus
Reged: 02/26/07
Posts: 586
Loc: Austin, TX
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Excellent shots, guys. I've caught it a few times with a DSLR, but I'm sure it's easier with a webcam.
Y'all are making me homesick....Saugus, Sharon, the Cape. I can almost taste the lobstah. 
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Stellarvue SV102ED
Celestron C8-SGT XLT GoTo
Astro-Tech AT66ED
Canon 50D unmodded, TC80N3 timer, Stiletto Focuser.
DMK21AU04.AS
Coronado PST (Lunt LS60THa on order)
Supportive family, including First Grader w/ scope, curious toddler, and lovely wife.
Sponsor of Austin CSC, Austin CalSky.
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LLD
Lucky so far
Reged: 11/14/05
Posts: 1698
Loc: MASS.
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I'm sure we could Trade ya some Lobster for some of those dark Texas skies! 
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LLD. Meade 16 inch dob. Meade 60mm Polaris refractor 76mm Bushnell reflector
Meade ETX60-BB,Meade 70MM / USB color camera
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chutch44
sage
Reged: 02/23/07
Posts: 330
Loc: Pontotoc, Ms
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Great shot , John. I agree with LLD, one of the best I have seen.
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Hutch
Celestron ASGT C8
William Optics Z66SD
Meade 3.3 Focal Reducer
Meade Dsi-c
Meade Dsi-Pro II
Plillips SPC900NC
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Alan Friedman
sage
Reged: 08/30/07
Posts: 351
Loc: Buffalo, NY
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Wonderful shot!
thanks for sharing,
Alan
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Alan Friedman
www.avertedimagination.com
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John Boudreau
member
Reged: 04/06/08
Posts: 52
Loc: Saugus, MA
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Thanks everyone for the fine comments! I appreciate them!
Fox--- yes, I had replied to your ISS post the other day, and think that your 80mm result is fantastic! As for my C11, it tends to vary focus somewhat as it's swept across the sky so I'm not sure how well it had held focus for my pic--- but it's possible that's all it can do. I'm planning to do some OTA work on soon it that may involve a primary mirror lock like the C14 Software Bisque locking collar.
And Jeff, I'll be devouring lobstah at a party in Rockport on Saturday. I'll make sure I crack one open in your honor!
---John
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spacescenes.com
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CESDewar
GorillAstronomer
Reged: 01/16/05
Posts: 1811
Loc: Morganton, GA, USA
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Just a fabulous catch. I was out observing a few nights ago with my 30x77mm binoculars and it was the first time I've actually tracked the ISS and could clearly see the solar panels.
But to try and image it as well? ....well....you should be proud of having picked up such a superb image - it inspires me as I will feel a sense of accomplishment to get a result that is only 1/10th as good! 
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FoxK
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 11/07/07
Posts: 1800
Loc: Cape Cod, MA
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Thanks John
No focus lock on the c11 eh? That can be rough but workable I guess. Sometimes it just doesn't matter i hear. As it goes through different heights, remember that means it also is being imaged through different angles and lengths of atmosphere so the differing diffraction over the pass may cause it to look like focus is changing as well. Keep up the great work!...now I gotta wait till Sept. to get it with the shuttle 
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Orion 80mm ED Apo Refractor
8" Classic Dob (used as Newtonian on CG5 mount)
Meade 70-AZ-A 70mm Guider using PHD
LS60TCaK/B600/C
CG-5 Advanced GT Mount
Nikon D40x with T-Adaptors
Philips SPC900NC
Imaging Source DMK 21AU04.AS
Dome=the box my mount came in so I can see my solar images in bright sun lol
- click for cloud prediction for Plymouth, MA. area
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John Boudreau
member
Reged: 04/06/08
Posts: 52
Loc: Saugus, MA
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Hi Fox,
No, the focus shift isn't misinterpreted atmospheric dispersion--- it's real. At times the focus shift can be bad enough where after swinging the scope 1/4 way or more across the sky, a star can appear out of focus enough for the secondary's shadow to be *just* visible. It also has a history of not holding collimation well, but I've greatly reduced that. It's a CF tube model, and I suspect the CF tube isn't stiff enough for the job.
The C11 is largely used for planet imaging, and then the typical long EFL with resulting slower f-ratio results in a deep enough depth-of-focus that greatly reduces the problem. Plus, I tend to recheck focus regularly when imaging planets anyway. It will soon see a thick wall aluminum tube with vents and fans to control boundary layer effects. I'll look into the viability of a baffle slider lock at that time.
Best of luck for a good shuttle capture next month!
---John
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spacescenes.com
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