Visitors to the Observatory often ask whether it’s possible to see the International Space Station (ISS) through the telescope. I finally decided to give it a try, aided by new features in TheSky X, software that controls my mount. It’s a bit tricky to follow, since you need to set up for high magnification and the satellite moves rapidly across the sky. But after a few failed attempts, I was able to capture this movie on August 4, 2014 around 10:10 pm. The sounds you hear are the of the mount tracking the satellite and the dome rotating (near the end of the video) to keep the slit in the proper orientation.
This is heartwarming to see . It makes very real the notion that there are people in that station, orbiting the earth.
I love the pictures they send back of the aurora.