Orpington Astronomical Society

Astronomy => Astrophotography => Topic started by: Kenny on Apr 18, 2015, 22:57:05

Title: Iridium flare
Post by: Kenny on Apr 18, 2015, 22:57:05
I captured the Iridium flare from Iridium 41 communications satellite at 21:48 this evening from Orpington. Canon 450D DSLR, 45 seconds at 33mm, f/6.3, ISO-1600. First time I've caught one, very pleased with the result. Stacked in DSS with 1 dark frame to remove rogue pixels.

(https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7629/17191294891_cb02000ed1_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/sc8T34)
Title: Re: Iridium flare
Post by: MarkH on Apr 18, 2015, 23:07:48
That's excellent Kenny, the longest I've witnessed  one for is less than a second.
Title: Re: Iridium flare
Post by: Mike on Apr 19, 2015, 09:26:29
Stacked with what Kenny? Surely the flare would only be on one frame?
Title: Re: Iridium flare
Post by: Kenny on Apr 19, 2015, 11:41:18
Yes. That's right. But adding a dark frame removes dodgy pixels.
Title: Re: Iridium flare
Post by: RobertM on Apr 19, 2015, 22:35:48
Stacking involves more than one frame so I think you meant you calibrated the light frame in DSS ?
Title: Re: Iridium flare
Post by: Mike on Apr 19, 2015, 23:49:31
Quote from: RobertM on Apr 19, 2015, 22:35:48
Stacking involves more than one frame so I think you meant you calibrated the light frame in DSS ?

Yeah that's what confused me.
Title: Re: Iridium flare
Post by: Kenny on Apr 20, 2015, 13:48:52
Thanks. I'm sure you are right. Still learning the lingo. :)
Title: Re: Iridium flare
Post by: Kenny on Apr 22, 2015, 21:58:45
Another one.

Iridium 18 'flare' caught at 21.33 this evening from Orpington in the dusk sky peaking at magnitude -8.1!! Other than a mild curve change in Adobe Photoshop CS2 to reduce the sky brightness and cropping the image, this is how it came out the camera. Unlike the last flare I captured, I haven't RGB balanced this one as it made the sky look too black /grey. Canon 450D at 33mm, f/6.3, ISO-1600. Longer 1 minute exposure to capture the full trail of the Iridium Communications Satellite.

(https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7607/17238011905_431c1e8dd1_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/sggjnP)
Title: Re: Iridium flare
Post by: MarkS on Apr 22, 2015, 22:04:53
Beautifully captured!  There's just no stopping you, is there!

Mark
Title: Re: Iridium flare
Post by: RachelC on Apr 22, 2015, 22:08:25
Wow. That is a great image!
Title: Re: Iridium flare
Post by: Carole on Apr 23, 2015, 09:37:50
Excellent capture Kenny.

Carole