Space Station

[masona]

If the space station is travelling 17500 mph, why can we see it the next day? Is it because it's travelling round the earth again?

This is London area
http://spotthestation.nasa.gov/sigh...ngdom&region=England&city=London#.UrwH2vRdWti

 

[Brigadier]

I thought this post was going to be about how, if Plumb Center hadn't been shut, you'd have had that leak fixed days ago.

 

[Trazor]

The ISS circuits the Earth every 90 minutes approximately, and you may see it 2 or 3 times a day, when in a visible orbit, mainly in the evening.

You cannot see it during the day, for the same reason you cannot see the stars. You cannot see it in the dead of night as the Sun does not shine on it.

You see it as it rises in the West, which is where the sun sets.

When you see it, it will be brighter than any Star and it will have no flashing lights.

 

[Mikefromlondon]

That ISS always seems in a hurry! can't it slow down a bit so that we can have a good look at it with a telescope! It goes too fast for my telescope tracking!

You can often see many smaller satellites during the night, criss crossing the skies, (most probably Geo satellites, ) and sometimes you see them with a naked eye.

 

[ellal]

This site is more useful:

http://www.heavens-above.com/PassSu...502&lng=-0.29388&loc=Unspecified&alt=0&tz=CET

Put in your location, choose 'visible only' and then go to 'ground track' for any chosen day...

 

[jockscott]

This is the site I use, http://iss.astroviewer.net/observation.php When you first go on the location is set to NewYork, but you can change your location to where you are. Shows visible passes, a ground track and an indication of how bright it is in the sky.

 

[Mikefromlondon]

This is the site I use, http://iss.astroviewer.net/observation.php When you first go on the location is set to NewYork, but you can change your location to where you are. Shows visible passes, a ground track and an indication of how bright it is in the sky.

thats a good link, shows more detail for novices, and don't forget tomorrow after 4.23pm, the bright object should appear to move steadily from the south West to south east lasting a whole 6 minutes, and it should be fairly dark at that time to be clearly visible.

 

[jockscott]

I did take my kids outside when the ISS was passing (almost) overhead on Christmas Eve, and told them they could see Santa on his sleigh up in the sky. They were entranced,,, and it kept the magic of Christmas alive (for me and them at least)

 

[sooey]

Yeah my daughter did that with her little ones, she got the idea from facebook I believe.

 

[wobs]

You can often see many smaller satellites during the night, criss crossing the skies, (most probably Geo satellites, ) and sometimes you see them with a naked eye.

Geo stationary orbit satellites do not move across the sky, as they are stationary. And 22,236 miles away, so you probably would not see them.

If you see any satellites, they'll be LEO.