Australian astrophotographer Dylan O’Donnell waited for almost a year for this moment. The process for this marvelous capture of the International Space Station with the moon in the background took months of planning and was over in a split second. Literally.
If you think that it might be a case of sitting there with your camera and a clock, with one hand on the shutter release, you’d be absolutely correct! The ISS only passed over the moon for 0.33 seconds as it shoots by quite quickly. Knowing the second it would pass I fired a “burst” mode of exposures then crossed my fingers and hoped it would show up in review – and it did!
– Dylan O’Donnell
The shot required a Canon 70D attached to the rear cell of a Celestron 9.25″ telescope (2300mm / f10). The shutter speed was a quick 1/1650th of a second and ISO 800 in order to freeze the ISS in motion, Dylan explains on his website.
Here’s a closer look where you can even see the solar arrays of the ISS.
Dylan’s is an astrophotography enthusiast. Astrophotography is a specialised type of photography for capturing images of astronomical objects and large areas of the night sky.
You can see Dylan’s amazing work on his website.
Also, if you are keen on spotting the ISS in orbit, NASA allows you to track the movement in real time here.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)