The best time for ISS-gazing is just before dawn or just after sunset, when the. In 2016, a strange light was spotted near Earth on the NASA live feed. No one from the space agency has commented yet on what it could be, but it isn't the first time something like this has happened. The letters represent compass directions - N is north, WNW is west by northwest, and so on.ĭisappears represents where in the night sky the International Space Station will leave your field of view. The ISS passes over most points on Earth every day but cannot always be seen. Watch on As Scott points out, whoever at NASA was controlling the camera noticed the object as well because they zoomed in on it. This value, like maximum height, also is measured in degrees from the horizon. If you hold your fist at arm's length and place your fist resting on the horizon, the top will be about 10 degrees.Īppears is the location in the sky where the station will be visible first. The horizon is at zero degrees, and directly overhead is ninety degrees. It represents the height of the space station from the horizon in the night sky. Max Height is measured in degrees (also known as elevation). Overview Images Videos Media Resources International Space Station on UStream Looking for high definition views of Earth from the space station Visit the ISS HD Earth Viewing Experiment (HDEV) on UStream or look for NASA Live: Earth Views From the Space Station on YouTube. Visible is the maximum time period the space station is visible before crossing back below the horizon. This is the optimum viewing period as the sun reflects off the space station and contrasts against the darker sky. All sightings will occur within a few hours before or after sunrise or sunset. Time is when the sighting opportunity will begin in your local time zone. It is an angle which increases from the north in a clockwise direction, therefore 0º corresponds to North, 90º is East, 180º is South and 270º is West.What does all this sighting information mean? If the object is below the horizon then the altitude is negative.Īzimuth: This tells you in which direction to look to find a celestial body and is expressed in degrees or points of the compass. So 0º altitude is exactly on your local horizon and 90º degrees at the zenith or straight up. We are not all astronomers - although being able to spot the ISS may wet our appetites for star gazing - so if you have difficulty with some of the terminology on the site click on the words in blue or check the definitions given below.Īltitude (astronomical) or elevation: Altitude used in its astronomical sense means the angle up from the horizon. If it is visible the site will give you a star map showing where the ISS is, its path over the sky and the exact time when it can be seen. Five spaceships are parked at the space station including Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus space freighter the SpaceX Crew Dragon vehicle and Russia’s Soyuz MS-19 crew ship and ISS Progress 78 and 79 resupply ships. To find out whether the ISS is visible from where you live visit and fill in the name of your town. 29, 2021: International Space Station Configuration. The best time for ISS-gazing is just before dawn or just after sunset, when the observer is in the dark but the ISS is in the sun. The ISS passes over most points on Earth every day but cannot always be seen. Although the ISS travels at a speed of 7.7 km per second it is in one of the lowest orbits possible - an approximate 390 km above our heads - and thanks to its large solar wings it is one of the brightest ‘stars’ making it fairly easy to distinguish as it visibly moves across the night sky. ![]() Spotting the ISS with the naked eye is not as difficult as it might seem - providing you know in which direction to look.
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