It’s been a productive few days for taking nighttime images of bright objects in the night sky including planets, stars and satellites.
On June 1, 2014, a check of the ephemeris for satellite passages noted that the International Space Station (ISS) would pass very close to Polaris (i.e., the “North Star”) at 2204 MST, followed by an Iridium flare at 2231 MST. I set up the camera to take 30s exposures from 2202-2232 MST so I could get a set of star trails with the ISS arcing across the northern sky. Two satellite flares can be seen in the lower right — the one I was expecting plus a bonus flare.
Star trails with the International Space Station.
Venus and Iridium flare.
A few days later, on June 5, 2014, for just a few seconds the planet Venus (mag. -4.0) was only the second brightest object (rather than the brightest) in the eastern twilight sky as an Iridium flare brightened to magnitude -5.7.
SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft is expected to complete the CRS-1 cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station on Sunday, October 28. The spacecraft will detach from the ISS and return to earth completing its first resupply mission to the station.
Earlier this month, I was able to capture photographs of the ISS and SpaceX/Dragon flying across the night sky just before the craft docked with the station.
ISS and SpaceX/Dragon fly across the sky prior to docking.SpaceX/Dragon mission to the International Space Station
In this pair of images the SpaceX/Dragon capsule races to catch the ISS as the pair move across the western sky separated by about 20 seconds. The first image is a composite of seven images each of 30 seconds duration and show the pair rising up from the west. The second image is a single 30-s exposure that shows the separation and how Dragon trails ISS.
A few mornings ago the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico conducted a test of the Patriot interceptor, producing iridescent rocket exhaust visible across the early morning sky of northern Arizona.
Exhaust trails from rockets launched in New Mexico as part of a test.
From the SpaceWeather.com web site: “…The test proceeded as follows: A Juno rocket was launched from Fort Wingate in Gallup, New Mexico. This served as the target for another missile, the Patriot Advanced Capability 3 interceptor, launched shortly thereafter from White Sands. A press release from White Sands confirmed the test and stated that “the Juno performed as expected…”
Iridescence in the exhaust trails from a rocket launch over New Mexico.
It’s not often that you get to see a missile launch from Arizona.
History was made in May when the unmanned spacecraft Dragon, perched atop the Falcon 9, was launched from the Kennedy Space Center by the Space Exploration (SpaceX) company. This was the first privately-built spacecraft to dock with the International Space Station (ISS).
The original launch was delayed by a few days when at the last second (literally, at the last half second!) the onboard computers automatically shut everything down.
Once successfully launched Dragon then began the process of matching orbits with the ISS in preparation for docking with the station. It would undergo a series of tests to make certain that the commands were correctly executed before being allowed to dock.
As the pair of spacecraft flew overhead in the early morning of 24 May, I was able to capture a series of photographs that showed the very bright ISS close to the very dim Dragon. As I was capturing the images, however, I wondered where the Dragon was — as I was unable to see it. Only after loading the images onto the computer and zooming in was I able to see the two spacecraft.
ISS and SpaceX/Dragon as they fly in tandem across the early morning sky in northern Arizona.ISS and SpaceX/Dragon as they fly in tandem across the early morning sky in northern Arizona.
The first image is a composite of three images each of 15 seconds duration. If you look very carefully you can see the dim track of Dragon just a few pixels below the bright track of ISS. The second image is a single, cropped image zoomed to 200% that does a better job of showing the two spacecraft as they flew together.
At this time, the Dragon was likely undergoing its command tests and was only a few miles from the larger ISS.
This flight was a historic moment for the true beginning of commercial spaceflight and I feel lucky to have been able to capture a sequence of photographs as it underwent its first space test.
There has been plenty to observe in the night sky in recent days and the show will get better towards the end of the month and into early March.
In the evening sky the planets Jupiter and Venus are both very bright and visible in the west at sunset and for several hours afterward. Over the next several days, Jupiter and Venus will move closer together creating a beautiful pair in the sky. Add in a crescent moon which will pass near the two planets (Feb 25 and 26) and it just gets better. (See the full story from NASA.)
Jupiter, Venus, and M31 above telescope dome.
This image was taken during the evening of 21 February 2012. Also visible — faint and located just above the telescope dome — is the Andromeda Galaxy (also known as M31). The telescope dome is located on Anderson Mesa and is part of the Anderson Mesa Station — a collection of telescopes and other astronomical instruments including the Navy Prototype Optical Interferometer (NPOI).
Iridium 19 flare.Cosmo SkyMed 4 flare.
A few nights earlier were two good satellite flares. The first is one of the Iridium series; the second is part of the Cosmo SkyMed series. Both went from very dim spots of light traveling across the sky to exceptionally brilliant points — albeit for only a few seconds.
The SpaceWeather and Heavens-Above web sites both provide great information on when and where to look for these bright objects in the sky.
