La Société Guernesiaise Astronomy
Section
Visible passes of the
International Space Station
and other satellites
The International Space Station (ISS) regularly passes through our
skies.
It appears like a very bright star moving
from west to east, at an angular velocity similar to a plane, and taking a few
minutes to cross the sky.
During morning passes, especially the very
early morning ones, the satellite may be in the Earth’s shadow, and therefore
invisible, for the first part of a pass.
Similarly, the satellite may enter the
Earth’s shadow during the late evening passes, and disappear from view.
Note that many other, fainter, satellites are
also visible. The ISS is by far the brightest, being as large as a football pitch.
The much-hyped Humanity Star satellite is likely to be extremely faint – almost never visible to the naked eye.
The
link below will take you direct to a page, configured for the latitude and
longitude of St Peter Port, Guernsey, on the excellent "Heavens
Above" web site which provides up-to-date predictions of the ISS and many
other satellites.
Click here for the Heavens Above web site
Then click on “ISS” for Space Station predictions. The table then shows
the local time, altitude (in degrees above the horizon) and compass direction
to look when it first becomes visible; the time, altitude and direction when it
reaches maximum altitude; and the time, altitude and direction when it
disappears. In the evening the “end” time may be when it disappears into the
Earth’s shadow; in the morning the “start” time may be when it emerges from the
Earth’s shadow.
Of
special interest are flares from the ‘Iridium’ satellites. You can get more
accurate predictions for these flares by changing the location on the Heavens
Above web site to your Guernsey parish, or Alderney, Sark or Herm through these
links:
Also see: NASA
ISS sighting information for Guernsey.
Below are pictures of the International Space Station and other
satellites, mostly taken in Guernsey.
The International Space Station crossing the face of the Sun on 10 June2017
The International Space Station moving from Gemini to Ursa Major on 23 November 2011 (Guernsey 60-second all-sky camera image)
The International
Space Station (left) preceded the Space Shuttle Endeavour, flight STS-118
(right) by 3 minutes in this sequence taken on
Occasionally the Space Station passes in front of the Moon as in these two images taken on 16 February 2016 and 22 May 2016.
The International Space Station (left) preceded (by
about 20 seconds and 150 km) by the fainter Jules Verne Automated Transfer
Vehicle (ATV) on
They were passing above Polaris, and through Ursa
Major.
A flare from the Iridium 95 satellite on 26
September 2006
Launch of the last Space Shuttle
Atlantis on 08 July 2011
The Space Shuttle rapidly
disappeared into cloud, leaving just a smoke trail
Text and pictures © David
Le Conte, 2006-2018
Heavens
above On-line satellite prediction
Where is the
International Space Station?
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This page was last updated on 2018 February 24