It’s like taking a photo of a bullet just as it passes in front of your camera, and when a beam of light hits it. Astrophotographer Sebastian Voltmer has gotten the picture of a lifetime from him.
The domestic telescopes have evolved so dramatically in recent years that they are now capable of photographing something as small as the astronauts of the International Space Station… 400,000 meters away!
the feat the Has got German astrophotographer Sebastian Voltmer. And although it is not the first time that a photo has been taken from Earth to the International Space Station (sometimes it can be seen with a few simple binoculars), never before has an image been captured of two astronauts walking outside the Station.
Its about NASA astronaut Raja Chari | and another from the European Space Agency, the German Matthew Maurer. You can see the following photo. As a gift, it is also appreciated SpaceX’s Dragon Module with which the astronauts arrived, anchored in the Station:
For this spectacular photo to be possible, There have been a few exceptional circumstances.
The first, the extraordinary expertise of astrophotographer Sebastian Voltmer to do the calculations, position and adjust the telescope, and focus the camera to get a sharp image of an object 400,000 meters away, moving at a speed of 27,600 km/h.
It was also necessary that the Sun (it was full dawn) strike the Space Station at an angle that reflects light back toward the Sebastian Voltmer Telescope. Without sunlight, the Station would be invisible.
Finally, the circumstance that On March 23, one of the longest spacewalks in history took place. Furthermore, it is extremely rare for two astronauts to go into space at the same time.
All these coincidences came together, and that is how this astrophotographer was able to get the photo of his life, with which any fan of observing space dreams.
It is not the first time that he photographed the International Space Station. In this video he explains how he does it, and you can see the capture in real time:
Of course, do not think that, despite being a domestic telescope, it is one of those sold in department stores.
Sebastian Voltmer uses a professional model (it can be seen in the previous video) made up of an 11-inch Celestron EdgeHD telescope, a GM2000 mount, and an ASI290 planetary camera. In total, it costs more than 20.000 euros.
Without a doubt, a very well spent investment…