Explanation: Yes, but have you ever seen the space station do this? If you know when and where to look, watching the bright International Space Station (ISS) drift across your night sky is a fascinating sight -- but not very unusual. Images of the ISS crossing in front of the half-degree Moon or Sun do exist, but are somewhat rare as they take planning, timing, and patience to acquire. Catching the ISS crossing in front of minuscule Mars, though, is on another level. Using online software, the featured photographer learned that the unusual transit would be visible only momentarily along a very narrow stretch of nearby land spanning just 90 meters. Within this stretch, the equivalent ground velocity of the passing ISS image would be a quick 7.4 kilometers per second. However, with a standard camera, a small telescope, an exact location to set up his equipment, an exact direction to point the telescope, and sub-millisecond timing -- he created a video from which the featured 0.00035 second exposure was extracted. In the resulting image capture, details on both Mars and the ISS are visible simultaneously. The featured image was acquired last Monday at 05:15:47 local time from just northeast of San Diego, California, USA. Although typically much smaller, angularly, than the ISS, Mars is approaching its maximum angular size in the next few weeks, because the blue planet (Earth) is set to pass its closest to the red planet (Mars) in their respective orbits around the Sun.
Many will say how lucky this fan is!, But according to the explanation it is a meticulous work of calculation and optimal use of the opportunity. There will be other places on Earth that have the same possibility, if in that place there was a person with the same spirit and hunter desire as Tomás, this is a work of dedication where the discomfort of the hours or the weather does not matter in addition, of patience.-
It is not about being in the exact place and time but SABER when it is, can they be called the paparazzi of Astronomy? and if it were well deserved they have it.-
Was a Martian taking a picture of our own reddened planet at the same time
Re: APOD: ISS Transits Mars (2020 Sep 23)
Posted: Wed Sep 23, 2020 1:23 pm
by Ken Reiss
It looks like the one solar panel touching mars is behind the planet. Is this a composite photo?
Re: APOD: ISS Transits Mars (2020 Sep 23)
Posted: Wed Sep 23, 2020 1:43 pm
by orin stepanek
Nice job Tom!
Re: APOD: ISS Transits Mars (2020 Sep 23)
Posted: Wed Sep 23, 2020 1:44 pm
by Sa Ji Tario
Ken, Despite the noise, if the image is magnified it shows that it is ahead
Re: APOD: ISS Transits Mars (2020 Sep 23)
Posted: Wed Sep 23, 2020 2:45 pm
by johnnydeep
Sa Ji Tario wrote: ↑Wed Sep 23, 2020 12:30 pm
Many will say how lucky this fan is!, But according to the explanation it is a meticulous work of calculation and optimal use of the opportunity. There will be other places on Earth that have the same possibility, if in that place there was a person with the same spirit and hunter desire as Tomás, this is a work of dedication where the discomfort of the hours or the weather does not matter in addition, of patience.-
It is not about being in the exact place and time but SABER when it is, can they be called the paparazzi of Astronomy? and if it were well deserved they have it.-
"SABER"? I was unable to guess an appropriate word you might have meant instead: SANER? SAFER?
Re: APOD: ISS Transits Mars (2020 Sep 23)
Posted: Wed Sep 23, 2020 6:41 pm
by BDanielMayfield
Speaking of the ISS, they've needed to make several collision avoidance maneuvers recently:
NASA admin warns ISS space junk problem is getting worse after 3 near collisions
CNN
Published Wed Sep 23, 2020 11:48 AM MDT
The International Space Station (ISS) narrowly avoided a collision with space debris for the third time this year.
The ISS used the thrusters of a cargo ship that was docked to the station along with NASA and Russian flight controllers working in tandem in order to avoid colliding with an unknown piece of debris, NASA said. The debris was expected to come within a mile of the station on Tuesday at approximately 6:21 p.m. ET, according to NASA.
There have been three "high concern potential conjunctions" with space debris in the last two weeks alone, and the ISS has had to maneuver three times to avoid debris this year, NASA said.
Low Earth orbit is an orbital space junk yard, according to NASA. There are millions of pieces of matter flying around, and it ranges from pieces of space craft to parts of rockets and satellites that are out of commission.
The three Expedition 63 crew members aboard the ISS were directed to the Russian segment of the station as "part of the safe haven procedure out of an abundance of caution," NASA said.
"Maneuver Burn complete. The astronauts are coming out of safe haven," NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine tweeted on Tuesday at 5:22 p.m. ET.
"The @Space_Station has maneuvered 3 times in 2020 to avoid debris," Bridenstine added in a follow-up tweet. "In the last 2 weeks, there have been 3 high concern potential conjunctions. Debris is getting worse! Time for Congress to provide @CommerceGov with the $15 mil requested by @POTUS for the Office of Space Commerce."
On February 11, President Trump released a budget proposal that included a $15 million request for the Office of Space Commerce to be able to "respond to current and future National Space Policy Directives." One of the goals of the Department of Commerce strategic plan is to make "improvements to visualization and modeling of objects (including debris) within the space environment."
No crew were harmed, and the US and Russian segments of the station were able to resume regular activities once the maneuver was completed, NASA said.
Re: APOD: ISS Transits Mars (2020 Sep 23)
Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2020 3:16 am
by neufer
BDanielMayfield wrote: ↑Wed Sep 23, 2020 6:41 pm
Speaking of the ISS, they've needed to make several collision avoidance maneuvers recently:
Speaking of Mars, they've needed to make several collision avoidance maneuvers recently:
The Day After Mars Explanation: October 31, 1938 was the day after Martians encountered planet Earth, and everything was calm. Reports of the invasion were revealed to be part of a Halloween radio drama, the now famous broadcast based on H.G. Wells' scifi novel War of the Worlds. On Mars October 20, 2014 was calm too, the day after its close encounter with Comet Siding Spring (C/2013 A1). Not a hoax, this comet really did come within 86,700 miles or so of Mars, about 1/3 the Earth-Moon distance. Earth's spacecraft and rovers in Mars orbit and on the surface reported no ill effects though, and had a ringside seat as a visitor from the outer solar system passed by. Spanning over 2 degrees against stars of the constellation Ophiuchus, this colorful telescopic snapshot captures our view of Mars on the day after. Bluish star 51 Ophiuchi is at the upper right and the comet is just emerging from the Red Planet's bright glare.
Actually, there was quite a bit of smoke in the region, although far less than on the previous several days. However, sky transparency was quite poor, with only the crescent Moon, Venus, Mars and the brightest of stars visible. The haze probably cost me at least 2 stops of exposure, which required higher camera gain than I would have preferred, but given the conditions in CA recently, I was fortunate to get any shot at all.
Ken Reiss wrote: ↑Wed Sep 23, 2020 1:23 pm
It looks like the one solar panel touching mars is behind the planet. Is this a composite photo?
It is not a composite. As described in the caption, it is an individual exposure of 0.35ms duration. Any semblance of the solar panel being behind the planet is an illusion. The edge of the solar panel has a nearly identical grayscale value to the Martian terminator, and so they become indistinguishable when combined with noise and atmospheric distortion.
ISS Transits Mars
