Frogs From Outer Space

ISS – short for International Space Station - is quite spectacular to observe transecting the night sky.  It is so bright you cannot possibly miss it and truthfully is one of the coolest things to observe.  The hitch is that the navigation across the sky by this satellite is fast.  It appears above the horizon and in a matter of moments crosses overhead and disappears over the opposite horizon.  Furthermore it is unpredictable (relative to stuff like constellations, the moon and planets) so it’s helpful to have advance warning of its arrival and from what direction.  

I use NASA's Spot the Station site which furnishes me dates and times and where to look based on my latitude and longitude.  Alerts are sent hours in-advance by email or text.  

Among several astronomy apps I make use of is Night Sky – an app on my Smartphone.  Available for Apple and Android devices this tool has a significant amount of information on the screen and all I have to do is aim my device in the direction of where I’m viewing and stars, planets, constellations and satellites are usefully arrayed on the screen for ease of identification.  
Last Friday morning brought me this message:  

Time: Fri May 15 11:02 PM, Visible: 6 min, Max Height: 48°, Appears: 10° above W, Disappears: 11° above NE 

And I was ready with my iPhone to see what I could capture.  

I did indeed get a handful of clear photos as the ISS came directly over the house.  So on a whim I thought – what the heck – how about some video.  Resulting in an edited copy here.
   

The video is poor quality with the wobbly track of the ISS as it comes in and out of focus.  Trust me - the station flies a steady orbit.  My results are a consequence of not using a tripod or other stationary platform to keep the device steady.  

So let’s agree that it is a crappy video production.  Nevertheless, the soundtrack is quite spectacular with the chorus frogs whooping it up in the background.  That is a delight to the ears.   

I've been meaning to record the frog chorus and now it's done.  Goes to show that sometimes you benefit from the law of unintended consequences.