This might interest a few people on here, its an explanation of how you can see the ISS cross the skies over the next week or so, basically the station orbits the Earth every 75 minutes or so and at certain times we can see it crossing the skies of the UK and other Countries of course. It is visible at the time the ISS is in the vicinity of crossing the UK and when the solar panels catch the light of the Sun. At those times it appears as a bright white light about as bright as a planet like Jupiter.
So how to see it…
To see it go outside at one of the times mentioned below, face South, look up and a bright white light will cross the sky from West to East. It will a steady white light about as bright as the planet Jupiter, the angle you look up will vary on how far South you are, in the South of the UK it tends to be almost overhead, In Scotland it will be much lower.
Tonight (Sunday) is is visible from 11:45pm for about 5 minutes for anyone up late it is then also visible after Midnight at the following times
1:20am and 2:57am
Tomorrow evening (Monday) it is visible at
10:53pm and then again after midnight at 00:27am
Happy spotting
For people in other Countries you can use this link to get the times it is visible
Looks like I will have to look tomorrow instead which is actually a better time.
I’m not sure if I have seen it on a sunny evening. I could see something shining high, high up in the sky. Higher than a plane. Never really knew what it was though.
I can’t believe I actually saw the ISS just under 10 minutes ago
It is a lovely clear sky here with sparkling stars and a bright moon. I was in the back garden looking up and not really expecting to see anything but after 5 minutes I was aware of something moving … and there it was, brighter than the stars and moving faster than I had imagined it would from west to east.
Thank you DW for giving me the opportunity to view this ‘wonder’.
It’s a busy place up there, and if you do some minimal internet searching you should be able to find interactive charts for satellite viewing. There’s always something to see.
Summer evenings here are often spent looking skyward looking for manmade and natural satellites, meteors, and favorite constellations. It takes at least twenty minutes for eyes to fully adjust.
It’s even better when experienced on a beach with your favorite people along.
I love to check where the space station is and try to spot it sometimes, which I’ve managed to do occasionally. I like to keep this site on my favourites.
I have just set an alarm on my phone to remind me. Hopefully it will be clear tonight. No doubt I will end up spending a couple of hours out there which is what happens when I start getting involved with all things ‘space’.
This is a list of times of possible sightings, some are at stupid o’clock but some are more civilised. These times are for Birmingham so they may vary slightly region to region.
Just to reiterate, it’s a single, solid, unblinking, unflashing white light. It has no other lights of any colour or description. The light you see is caused by the sun reflecting off it’s solar panels.
