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| Date: | 19.3.2008 | Time: | 3:54 - 4:12 UT | Exposure: | 540 x 1.6s |
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| Field: | 84o x 62o | Camera: | Nikon D3 | Filter: | none |
| Optics: | f=20mm, 1/2.5 | Place: | Hechingen, Germany | Observer: | Till Credner |
ESA's ATV spacecraft "Jules Verne" races about 2000 km ahead of the ISS through the predawn sky above Hohenzollern Castle of the Swabian Alb, Southern Germany. The ATV is Europe's largest and most comprehensive spacecraft up to date. It was launched on March 9th ontop of an ARIANE 5 rocket and has docked to the ISS on April 3rd.
To record the visible pass 540 frames were taken in 2s intervals and are shown with 30 frames per second. Therefore the time lapse movie is 60 times faster than reality. ATV comes first from upper right to lower left and then the brighter ISS in the same track.
The still image above is a composite of 11 + 11 exposures with a large time gap in between. The two spacecraft could not be seen simultaneously. The ATV preceded about five minutes and vanished in the east before the ISS appeared in the west.