SPACE STATION SILHOUETTE: It happened in a split second. On July 26th, the International Space Station (ISS) flew in front of the sun over Orleans, France, where astrophotographer Thierry Legault was waiting. He couldn't see the 0.8s transit with the unaided eye, but his telescope and digital camera captured this image: Photo details: Canon 5D MkII, Takahashi TOA-150 refractor, Herschel prism, 1/8000s
"The silhouette shows space shuttle Endeavour docked to the ISS," he says. "The shuttle's payload bay arm is visible, too."
Legault has taken many pictures of spaceships passing in front of the sun. When he stands beside the telescope at the moment of transit, listening to the camera click, there is no assurance of a good shot. "I never know if the ship will be visible or not, or if the seeing will give good or bad images. The discovery of the silhouette on the computer screen later is the moment I prefer and is a great pleasure."
The ISS will be transiting the French sun again, perhaps several times, in the weeks ahead, says Legault. Stay tuned for snapshots.
Source
HOME PAGE
0 comments:
Post a Comment