Stellarvue 130 Apo Triplet - ISS Transits the Sun

Kevin Lyons was able to catch this image of the International Space Station transiting across the sun, on June 3rd with his Stellarvue 130 Apo Triplet. The ISS moves at a speed of 17,500 miles per hour and crosses the entire sky in under 6 minutes, making this a very challenging shot to capture.

According to Kevin: “I recorded an ISS transit of the sun with my 130 scope on June 3rd. A ZWO 183MC camera was used because it has a sensor large enough to capture the full disk. First a 32 frame composite of the transit was created using Paintshop Pro. The transit only took 1.8 seconds. Then I stacked and sharpened the full 90 second video. I used Paintshop Pro Levels to blend the composite with the sharpened image.”

Details:
Telescope: Stellarvue 130 Apo Triplet

Camera: ZWO ASI183MC Pro

Software: Paintshop Pro

References:

Ashford, A., & Tytel, D. (Eds.). (2017, August 29). Satellite Transit Tool: Spot ISS Transits of the Sun and Moon. Sky And Telescope. https://skyandtelescope.org/observing/interactive-sky-watching-tools/skyandtelescope-coms-satellite-transit-tracker/

Newton, B. (2023, January 31). Capturing an ISS transit — Astronewton. Astronewton. https://www.astronewton.com/blog/capturing-the-iss-transiting-the-sun

APOD: 2019 October 28 - The space station crosses a spotless sun. (n.d.). https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap191028.html

Denny, K. (2025, April 21). How To Capture an ISS Transit | High Point Scientific. Astronomy Hub. https://www.highpointscientific.com/astronomy-hub/post/astro-photography-guides/how-to-capture-iss-transit