Next time you have a free hour just see what you can photograph in it (everything in the post title). I went with my daughter to a nearby park (Shoam park) mainly to photograph the sunset and we discovered many more things
A herd of sheep
sheep
Not ideal conditions for sunsets. Lots of clouds and haze so we didn't see the actual sunset but it was still nice and we even saw some large sunspots.
While we are looking west to the sun, two curious foxes sneaked from the east. I think they looked for food and were disappointed not finding any. Please do not feed foxes or any other wild animals, and don't leave food behind you.
fox
a fox asking for food
a fox
If you like the foxes enjoy the vidoe
After the foxes gone I was happy to see Venus in the clouds. I was not able to see Mercury but the camera did (at the top of the photo)
Venus and Mercury in clouds
Airplanes are coming to land from the west. The airport is 8km and I estimate the airplane to be double that distance when I start to take the video. It was already dark and hot air influence the sharpness. Need to try that again
Oops, I did that again! After almost 19 months I was able to take again a video of the ISS passing the moon! (Here is the story of the first time I caught the ISS and the moon).
I am receiving alerts from calsky site about satellites crossing the moon, but I usually ignore them since most of the time it is a very small satellite which requires telescopes and to find the exact place, but this alert was different.
What are the chances to see an ISS pass? Very high, it happens all the time. what are the chances that the ISS will cross the moon? I think that *somewhere* it also happens all the time. But what are the chances that the crossing will happen exactly at your house?? Ohm. Small, rather small.
But improbable things happens all the times and as I got the alert I checked the predictions (see the appendix) and saw that indeed all I need to do is to go outside to my roof.
Even the problematic hour 4:56am did not bother me. I decided for the best configuration for my equipment and made all setups I could the evening before. I set an alarm and went to sleep early.
Getting up at 4:15 the skies are full of clouds, ignored them and continue to setup the system. Clouds come and goes and there is plenty of time, so just hope for the best. I aligned the mount and put my 70mm doublet on it with Canon700d on video mode.
I use a Nikon 900P camera with a mighty zoom on a regular tripod without tracking and an old Canon SX30 for backup. Ten minutes before the pass and everything was entirely cloudy. Five minutes before the pass the sky was clear.
Waiting. Here it is! Above the moon and going down so quick. Fast. Press record here, here and here! make a last alignment for the non-tracked Nikon camera and wait.
I took a look at the eyefinder to see if it catches the ISS but saw nothing. I looked at the ISS and saw that it already passed the moon. Well maybe the predictions were no that accurate and it missed the moon in a degree that is possible, nothing to do about that. Turn off all recordings, take apart everything I can without making too much noise (5am in the morning) and check what happened on the computer.
Happily, I found out that all three cameras captured the ISS. Most of the pass was on the dark side of the moon and only a fraction of it on the lit side. Here are the results combined into a single view. Please look at it on full screen with HD resolution
I tried to extract a single image from the video but the ISS was too smudged. I think that The Nikon camera went back to its default 30fps and not to the 60fps I set it up before. Always check your setup again, even if you are too tired at 4am! The ISS is the white little line on the dark side of the moon.
The ISS flies over the moon
Some hints and tips for the next time
One problem of such videos/photos is that it is hard to practice. The duration of the pass is one second or less. My recommendations for the next time are:
Take the highest FPS you can: 60 120 or even 240 (with iPhone aligned to the eyepiece)
Practice on a regular moon without the ISS
To freeze the ISS use 1/1600 shutter speed
If you have a DSLR with a high zoom lens, use burst mode and don't take video.
Have fun doing all of that!
Appendix: Check predictions in Heavens-Above Heavens-Above is a great site to get information about ISS and other passes. Try it out, it is simple and intuitive.
When selecting a pass you see a general map of it. Vawalla! The pass is on the moon!
Heavens-Above prediction of the pass - regular
This is not certain tough and you must press the map to get t magnify. If in the magnified map the pass is on the moon, you can start preparing your gear, but take into account that as it implies, these maps are predictions only.
