Misty Iridium 49 - Mag -7

[jgs001]

Finally, managed to get a flare again, and what a beaut it was too... Mag -7 with some mistiness to give it a lovely glow.

SatCatcher on the Redsnapper Tripod
450d + nifty fifty

30s, ISO200 f2.2

[rjgjr]

That's one of the best I've seen John, absolutely stunning, such an intense glow. The cirrus add great detail and depth. Good Job!!

[Tyler]

Wow John! this is what I only hope to capture! looks amazing...what focal length is this shot at? I'd imagine its with the fast 50mm

[jgs001]

Thanks guys.

Tyler, it certainly was 50mm. I used the Canon EF 50mm mkii, cheap, cheerful, sharp and amazingly fast.

[John9929]

Thats a lovely image there John, how do you mamage to know where to point the camera I always miss

[Tyler]

John, Heavens-above gives the alt-az location of the flare...you can then find the coordinates on stellarium

[rjgjr]

Hi John, another excellent website for satellite and flare info is calsky.com. They will actually email you daily sightings of just about anything you wish, including ISS, Iridium and other satellites. They provide star charts that show just where the satellite will track, how long and magnitude. It's a very interesting website. Good luck!

[jgs001]

Thanks John.

I used HA for the AltAz coords and time (I keep a watch synced to it, although I do also use Calsky and Orbitron. Then I used my home made SatCatcher to point the camera at the correct point in the sky. It allows me to use longer focal lengths for better image scale, than the short end of the kit lens. I've hit a flare at 90mm, but it didn't quite fit on chip properly, and you lost the lead in and lead out.

this is the SatCatcher



Very simple (better that way) yet works great.

[John9929]

Thanks all for the replies, I will certainly give some of those a try. We should be getting some bright ones over the summer and I would love to catch one which is not accidental  

[rjgjr]

Thanks for posting the photo of your SatCatcher again, you posted it several months ago and I lost track of it. That is one great piece if equipment, you don't have a patent on it yet, do you? lol

[jgs001]

You're welcome Richard. And no, no patent... in fact I'm not allowed to now, as soon as I posted it on a forum that blew any chance of a patent as I think it puts it into the public domain. but that's fine, lets be honest... it's an inclinometer with a compass on it after all..

[martinastro]

John, simply spectacular and perfect, that's the kind of image I have always wanted to get. Perfect exposure and composition and a stunning flare to finish it of. The cirrus streaks are the icing on the cake. I can see another one of these appearing in the astro mags in the near future 

[jgs001]

Thanks Martin... Maybe I'd better submit it then