ISS transits the first Full Moon of 2023
Orbiting at 27600 km/h, completing one circle around the globe every 90 minutes, the International Space Station (ISS) is the largest modular space station in low Earth orbit.
On January 6th, 2023, 22:52 UTC+2, ISS passed in front of the Moon for observers from Athens, Greece. The transit lasted only 0.52 sec, it was observed from Kifisia, Athens (38.1021, 23.8083), and the angular size of the ISS was 60.35". The space station was 423.5 km away, while the Moon was 399838 km away. The transit happened during the full Moon phase, the first full Moon of 2023. Inside the space station there was a crew of 7 astronauts, Francisco Rubio, Dimitri Petelin, Koichi Wakata, Josh Cassada, Nicole Mann, Sergey Prokopyev, Anna Kikina (Expedition 68).
Using careful planning and split-second timing, the lunar transit was captured at a 25fps 4K video, giving 14 frames of the space station in front of our natural satellite.
ISS is 109 meters end-to-end, the size of a football field. The details of the structure of the station in the photos are of smaller dimensions, up to 10-20 meters.
ISS is 109 meters end-to-end, the size of a football field. The details of the structure of the station in the photos are of smaller dimensions, up to 10-20 meters.
Here is a closer view of the ISS close to Tycho, one of the most prominent craters at the surface of the Moon:
This is the video of the transit:
ISS: 423.5km, 60.35" (14 frames recorded from 25fps 4K video)
Moon: 399838km, 14.7 days old, 99.9% illuminated (80 photos stacked)
Moon: 399838km, 14.7 days old, 99.9% illuminated (80 photos stacked)
ISO-800, f/14, 1/1000 sec
--Software--
PIPP
PIPP
Autostakkert!3
Photoshop 2023
--Hardware--
Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer
Sky-Watcher Skymax 90
--Hardware--
Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer
Sky-Watcher Skymax 90
Canon EOS R
Baader UV/IR cut filter
Baader UV/IR cut filter
