Capturing the International Space Station (2022)

Summary

ENTER YOUR EMAIL HERE FOR MY TELESCOPE BUYING GUIDE My ISS transit shots tend to get the most questions, so I put together a write-up of exactly how I get them. See the uncropped version of my latest ISS Transit shot here (you can order print there as well, get some cool space art while supporting my projects) First- I check transit-finder.com.This is a web resource that allows you to put in your location, a time frame, and how far you're willing to drive, and it will spit out results of nearby transits. I check this every week, and see my transits coming about a month ahead of time. The results can change though based on updated ISS trajectories though, so check it often. The results generally look like this: This gives me information about the upcoming transits, so I'll know how good they are. The arrow shows path of travel from your current location, but if you travel the distance indicated towards the path of the transit you will be able to capture it. Many of the results will be far too small to resolve details on the ISS, so I generally skip those ones. "ISS angular size" is one of the only details that matters. I generally only shoot ones that are over 45", but some photographers have captured great ones that are smaller. If it is nearly straight overhead, it is larger since that is when it is closest. That second transit in that image is the best one, but it is also fairly far away at 31km. Still though, 62" (that's arcseconds) is about as "big" as the Iss gets for these, I've only seen a couple larger than that. Next, I would plan the gear for my shot.I am lucky to have a lot of good equipment at my fingertips, but really you just need a camera with a fairly long focal length. I recommend at least 800mm, but the more the better (so long as your f# doesn't get so high you have to increase exposure time). I have actually captured transits with a 350mm lens where I was still able to resolve the solar panels, so don't let your lack of equipment necessarily dete...