Glare from the illuminated part of the planet on the ISS solar panels

Posted: Jun 6th, 2025

Technical Info

Telescope/Lens: Sky-Watcher Dob 16" (400/1800)

Camera: Canon 550D

Accessories: ЛБ х2 Televue

Novosibirsk, Russia

Jul 11th, 2024

859

Resolution: 300x300 px

Scale: 12643 KB

Aleksandr Tyulkin

Animation of the ISS flyby 427 frames, you can notice the glare on the ISS solar panels, and the station's modules are also clearly visible, especially when the angle of inclination changes

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Comments

Smirnov Andrey

"Glint from the illuminated part of the planet on the ISS solar panels."
Are you sure it's from the illuminated part of Earth, and not from the Sun?

6 Jun, 2025 Reply

Aleksandr Tyulkin Replied to Smirnov Andrey

Well, it looks like part of the planet is reflected on the panels. If you look closely, you can see the reflection is curved like a semicircle.

6 Jun, 2025 Reply

Smirnov Andrey Replied to Aleksandr Tyulkin

This is definitely a lens flare.

6 Jun, 2025 Reply

Oeswww Replied to Smirnov Andrey

A blue glare from the sun?

7 Jun, 2025 Reply

Gavriil

This is a really cool piece of work.

6 Jun, 2025 Reply

Aleksandr Tyulkin Replied to Gavriil

Thank you :)

7 Jun, 2025 Reply

Oeswww

Super. The reflection from the ground is absolutely top-notch.

7 Jun, 2025 Reply

Aleksandr Tyulkin Replied to Oeswww

Thank you!

8 Jun, 2025 Reply

Ankorot

Please explain how this was captured, especially given the size of the Dob and the long focal length?
Thanks!

14 Aug, 2026 Reply

Aleksandr Tyulkin Replied to Ankorot

I manually tracked the ISS through a straight-through viewfinder with illumination. The ISS only rises to 47 degrees for us, so tracking it was manageable at my height of 185 cm.

14 Aug, 2026 Reply

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