Title: The ISS Over Halifax
Date: Imaged 11 July 2019 (2:06 am).
Location: Halifax, NS
Equipment: Tripod-mounted Canon Rebel T3 DSLR at ISO-400 with kit lens at 18mm f/4; 20 sec exposure.
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Processing: A single 20 sec exposure was captured in RAW16 format and converted to TIFF format using Canon’s Digital Photo Professional. Photoshop CS2 was used for to adjust levels and color balance/saturation, as well as for noise removal. StarTools was used to minimize gradients. Microsoft Photo was used to tweak clarity, contrast, highlights, shadows, and exposure of the final jpg image.
Comments: This image was taken just as the ISS moved out of the Earth’s shadow while passing through Ursa Minor, appearing to follow the Lesser Bear’s tail. The lighter area on the bottom right side of the image is due to light pollution from Halifax/Dartmouth and the Bedford Basin container port. Capturing this image required some careful planning. I first determined the predicted transit arc and time at which the ISS would appear within an area of the sky that was not obscured by the trees bordering the north side of my back yard. Several test images were taken to confirm the desired field of view. The camera’s shutter was triggered using a wired remote as soon as the ISS came into view.