Seeing the shuttle and space station

[Morris Jones]

We're often asked if you can see the space shuttle from here, wherever 
"here" happens to be.

The answer is "Yes, you can," but you have to be looking at the right 
time, in the right location.

The shuttle and space station are among the brightest objects in the sky 
when they're passing over.  When they do pass over, they're only visible 
for three or four minutes at a time.  They look like a very bright 
moving star, and could be mistaken for an airplane, except they have no 
blinking red beacons.  Once you get familiar with observing satellites, 
it becomes obvious that they're not following a path anything like an 
airplane would.

So the key is knowing when.  Timing is critical.  In order to see the 
shuttle or space station flying overhead, three things need to happen: 
It needs to be passing over your area, it needs to be dark where you 
are, and the satellite needs to be lit by the sun.  That means it has to 
pass within a couple hours of sunset or sunrise, where it will still be 
high enough to be in sunlight while it's dark down on the ground.

A very popular web site will make those calculations for you and give 
you predictions of when you might see the shuttle, International Space 
Station, and hundreds of other objects that orbit the Earth: 
<http://www.heavens-above.com/>

You have to tell it where you live (latitude and longitude, or city from 
a database).  Then it will tell you when you can see the ISS or shuttle 
for the next ten days.

The best passes are ones that have a maximum altitude higher than 35 
degrees.  We have a couple of passes coming up that are close to that.

Thursday evening, 8:52 to 8:56 p.m.  Look for it at its highest in the 
northeast.  If you face north, you'll see it passing from your left to 
your right, at a maximum of 39 degrees high, very close to the North 
Star and right through the summer triangle.

Friday evening, 9:15 'til 9:18 p.m.  Face to the west, then south; 
you'll see it pass from right to left.  It'll pass very close to bright 
Jupiter slightly west of south, and should be almost as bright as Jupiter.

Best regards,
Mojo
-- 
Morris Jones
Monrovia, CA
http://www.whiteoaks.com
Old Town Astronomers http://www.otastro.org