Question about ISS through telescope

[katgamer]

Hi everyone,<br /><br />Is there a site where I can see pictures of what the International Space Station looks like in various magnifications through a telescope? I've got a telescope and I'm just wondering if it's even worth bothering to try to look for the ISS.<br /><br />Is it hard to find in a telescope, since I've noticed that the viewing times listed on NASA's site seem to be short (on the order of 1-5 minutes for this week)?

 

[ozspace]

The problem with trying to view the ISS with a telescope is that it is moving across the sky. If you have anything that would be powerful enough so that it is not just a point of light, you're talking about a sophisticated set up (read expensive) to be able to track and see anything.<br /><br />There are some out there that do it, have a look at this site:<br />http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/satcom_transits/

 

[CalliArcale]

The trickiest part is timing it *just* right and then tracking it. Most of them don't even try to see it with the naked eye -- they photograph it repeatedly with a CCD camera and then stack the images (carefully lining them up) to produce something recognizable. There are also some very cool images of it's silhouette as it transits the Sun, but this requires exceptionally good timing. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#666699"><em>"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff."</em>  -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>

 

[katgamer]

Thank you for the link! Sadly, I think my telescope is only good for looking at the moon.

 

[webtaz99]

There are lots of telescopes fitted with "star trackers" - motorized units which keep the telescope trained on an object. But they run based on the Earth's rotation, and the ISS (or the Shuttle) is actually outpacing the Earth's rotation, so these units can't keep up. Some people have probably built their own or modified existing ones to do this. You would probably need a different type of telescope with a wider field of view. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[lampblack]

<font color="yellow">Here is a picture of Venus and the ISS crossing the Sun:</font><br /><br />Now that is just about the coolest thing that I (for one) have seen this entire week. Thanks for posting it! <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font color="#0000ff"><strong>Just tell the truth and let the chips fall...</strong></font> </div>