January 22, 2007 at 8:33 pm
I took this last month (19th Dec) from my back yard here in Zanesville, Ohio.

2X
It was a very lucky shot as Discovery had undocked from the ISS less than an hour before this was taken.
So, have any of you taken photo’s of very high flying aircraft with any success?
I used my 10inch SCT telescope and a webcam to capture this image, shooting at 20 frames per second. I shot approximately 3900 frames during the pass and this is the best of maybe three usable frames.
By: Paul F - 24th January 2007 at 11:35
220 Miles – Thanks Paul.
Thinks: Thats about the same as me taking a photo of a Boeing 737 sized object at Manchester Airport from my office here at London Gatwick – A most impressive feat. And of course the shuttle moves damn quickly as it passes overhead too – makes your shots even more impressive.
Paul F
By: Paul Rix - 23rd January 2007 at 15:56
LOL, I would be a little worried that the ‘men in black’ would come and take my telescope away! 😉
Paul F, sorry, I forgot to answer your question. On that pass, Discovery and the ISS were at about 212 miles above me at the closest point on that pass. The image was from the part of my video that corresponds with them being close to overhead, so I’ll guess at 220 miles ?
Here is a small presentation I put together with data for the pass from www.heavens-above.com .
By: Phillip Rhodes - 23rd January 2007 at 15:43
Glad you like it :).
This is a photo of my imaging rig, set up for some deep space imaging (Galaxies, Nebulae etc)…
WOW
Question: have you ever been to Tikaboo Peak – some 26 miles from Area 51. I’m sure you’d get some great shots with your rig.
By: Paul Rix - 23rd January 2007 at 14:12
Glad you like it :).
This is a photo of my imaging rig, set up for some deep space imaging (Galaxies, Nebulae etc)…

By: ATFS_Crash - 23rd January 2007 at 11:57
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Excellent photo
By: Paul F - 23rd January 2007 at 10:22
It’s a Very impressive photo Paul – what sort of altitude were they at as they passed over – any ideas? Ever tried to get any other photos of orbiting items?
I saw the ISS and one of the shuttles pass directly overhead our place (Lewes, East Sussex, UK) five or six years ago, in similar circumstances, i.e. just after the shuttle had undocked, but without access to any impressive optics like yours they were just two fast moving “stars” very close to each other against the background star scape. Luckily the children were watching with me and they too saw them, and the memory stuck, as they remembered it when we were at Kennedy Space Centre and (luckily) saw them roll out the refurbished shuttle two years ago.
Cheers
Paul F
By: Whiskey Delta - 22nd January 2007 at 22:46
“Wow” is all I can say.