The Night Sky Guy

Spy the Space Station

All this weekend and throughout next week try and grab the next clear night and head outside to watch the International Space Station zip across your skies above. If you are lucky you may even be able to catch it twice in one night! This is one skywatching event you don’t need binoculars or telescopes to enjoy and you can even see it from light polluted city centres.  If you have never seen a satellite before this will be a great opportunity because the orbiting labs trajectory will take it up very high in the sky making it easy to see above buildings and trees. Also making it a grand sight is that construction is so near completion that the station is about as big as a football field so that it is very reflective to sunlight, making it superbright in the sky. Just look for a bright white star glide across the starry sky in a out 2 to 4 minutes. Remember that this satellite – with a crew of 6 astronauts - is traveling about 27,000 km per hour at 400 km above our heads.  It takes it only 90 minutes to make once orbit around our planet. When and where to watch?

Click image to enlarge

Click on the Space Station icon on the right-hand sidebar or go to my Sky Tonight page and click on your city of choice or choose Elsewhere, and get your customized viewing table.  For an explanation of how to read your viewing timetable chart click on the image to the left. It is a sample chart for Toronto that gives you a brief rundown on what the main sections mean. Just click on the Space Station Icon on the right-sidebar and click on you city listed or click elsewhere. The ISS will be best placed for anyone living in North America so enjoy the show!

Bookmark