Spaceship Sighting Alert

By Nancy Atkinson - May 21, 2008 at 6:00 AM UTC | Space Exploration
iss.jpg

The next few evenings will provide excellent opportunities for observing the International Space Station in the night skies above both Europe and North America. Beginning this evening, May 21 through May 23 the ISS will pass over from two to four times per night, depending on your location. Because of the station's current orientation and flight path, it will be highlighted almost constantly by sunlight as it flies over these continents, and thus visible to Earthlings below. If you've never had the opportunity to see the space station fly over your backyard, this is a great chance to do so, given your specific area is free from cloud cover. And for those of you that have seen the ISS before, you know what a spectacular (and sometimes spine-tingling) sight it is. It's unusual to get such a clear view of the ISS across such a wide spectrum of countries. And how, you ask, can you find out when the station will be flying over your house?

There are a couple of different websites that provide real-time tracking data and information about the ISS sighting opportunities. NASA has a

Quick and Easy Sightings by City

site, where you just search for your country and city which provides local times and the location in the sky where the station will be visible.

The European Space Agency also provides their ISS: Where Is It Now site that also allows you to select your country and city to find the station's location.

The

Heaven's Above

website (which also powers ESA's site) is also an excellent site to find out when the ISS, as well as all sorts of other satellites and other heavenly sights will be visible. At Heaven's Above, you can plug in your exact latitude and longitude, so if you live in a remote area, you'll be able to have exact times and locations to look for satellites instead of relying on information for the nearest city.

So take this great chance to see our orbiting outpost. If you have a strong enough and tracking-capable telescope you might even be able to spot specific modules on the station, or the solar arrays. The

Astrospider

site has some images and movies available of what this looks like.

And this is a great opportunity to inspire a child about the wonders of space exploration and astronomy.

For more

information about the ISS.

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com