A Bright Space Station in the Evening

.....As more is added to the International Space Station (from here on out, just the “ISS”), the space station can appear even brighter in sky on those favorable passes when the large solar panel arrays catch the Sun just right. Over the course of the next week , the ISS will make several passes over the continental United States in which it will appear substantially brighter in the sky than the planet Jupiter, the bright but relatively stationary light in the South. As I’ve written before, you can watch out for these good passages by combining trips to a weather website and one of several websites. (I use www.heavens-above.com, as I note in the links, and you can use the Messier Pro login and password as described in an earlier post.)

.....Oh, one thing that I have not mentioned is that these bright passes will take place in the early evening, and will be very easy to see. I took the opportunity to find a (hopefully) good night for a number of cities of friends, family, and a couple of people who have actually admitted reading this thing. I looked at the Weather Channel’s website, picked nights predicted to be clear, and noted the time and directions to look. I’ve put these in alphabetical order by state. If you’re state isn’t in here, then look at a nearby city, or drop a note in the comments and I’ll find a good time for your city.

.....This will be early enough so that even young kids can see it, so drag everyone you can outside, and then come back here and we’ll compare notes on who was able to see it!

Alabama (Mobile)

.....Yikes! What are you doing inside? The only decent pass for you this week will be this evening (Sunday, November 8th). If you go outside and look to the southwest at 5:11:06 PM, the ISS will appear over the southwestern horizon. The Space Station will be just south of directly overhead, and it will vanish just above the northeastern horizon at 5:17:52.
http://www.heavens-above.com/PassDetails.asp?Session=kebgfgclbbkemgcihfjooook&satid=25544&date=40125.9680109606

Colorado (Denver)

.....Hey, I’m sorry, but you don’t have a great combination. Go here, see you get anything, and then wait for a better week.
http://www.heavens-above.com/PassSummary.aspx?satid=25544&Session=kebgfgclbakbpkhgkmjkhfod

Florida (Orlando)

.....Yikes! What are you doing inside? (Not a lot of good passes for the gulf states this week.) The only decent pass for you this week will be this evening (Sunday, November 8th), and the ISS will only appear about as bright as the brightest star, but it should be visible in evening twilight. If you go outside and look to the southwest at 6:09:53 PM (the same pass as Mobile is seeing), the ISS will appear over the southwestern horizon. The Space Station will reach an altitude of 33 degrees above the horizon, and will hug the western and then the northern horizon until it vanishes into the Earth’s shadow at 6:17:15 PM.

http://www.heavens-above.com/PassDetails.asp?Session=kebgfgclbbkemgcihfjooook&satid=25544&date=40125.9684758333


Georgia (Lookout Mountain)

.....See Tennessee (Chattanooga). You live in Chattanooga, get over it.

Massachusetts (Boston)

.....It won’t be great tomorrow, but from 6:33;37 to 6:40:04, the ISS will hug the western horizon going north, disappearing due north, and never getting more than 10 degrees above the horizon.
http://www.heavens-above.com/PassDetails.asp?Session=kebgfgclbakbpkhgkmjkhfod&satid=25544&date=40126.9844423032

Michigan (the southwestern UP)

..... There are a lot of great passes, a lot of crummy weather. Try tomorrow night from 5:34:41 to 5:40:04. The ISS will rise in the southwest, appearing to be aiming due east. The ISS will only get 26 degrees above the horizon, and will still be 23 degrees above the horizon when it disappears behind the Earth’s shadow.

http://www.heavens-above.com/PassSummary.aspx?satid=25544&Session=kebgfgclbakbpkhgkmjkhfod

Minnesota (Elbow Lake)

.....Okay, really, this a great week for seeing the ISS from the upper Midwest. Minnesota has a lot of passes, and the best days for Elbow Lake will be tomorrow (Monday), but the best pass will be Tuesday. There will be two tries on Monday, the first going from 5:34:12 to 5:39:28. It will rise in the south and skim the southern horizon, moving to due east, never getting more than 12 degrees above the horizon. Monday’s second pass will be from 7:10:04 to 7:11:27. The ISS will be about as bright as the star Sirius, and as you can guess from the time, it won’t be up very long. The ISS will rise in the southwest and disappear behind the Earth’s shadow when it is 25 degrees above the horizon.

.....Tuesday is supposed to be partly cloudy, and you will see another pass of the ISS disappearing on the way. Rising in the southwest, the ISS will pass very close by the planet Jupiter as it moves to the eastern horizon. The ISS will get 31 degrees above the horizon, and disappear into the Earth’s shadow when it is still 20 degrees up.

http://www.heavens-above.com/PassSummary.aspx?satid=25544&Session=kebgfgclbakbpkhgkmjkhfod

Minnesota (Twin Cities)

.....Tuesday is the best day for all of Minnesota this week. From 5:09:08 to 5:16:27, the ISS will be the brightest object in the sky as it moves from the southwest to the northeast, getting 65 degrees above the horizon.

http://www.heavens-above.com/PassDetails.asp?Session=kebgfgclbakbpkhgkmjkhfod&satid=25544&date=40125.9680122685

Minnesota (Winona)

.....The clearest day on the forecast is Tuesday, which is also the day this week of the best pass. On Tuesday, the ISS will rise in the darkening sky in the southwest, rising high overhead at 5:56:15, reaching 67 degrees above the horizon, until it disappears into the Earth’s shadow at 18:02:08, still 34 degrees above the eastern horizon.

http://www.heavens-above.com/PassDetails.asp?Session=kebgfgclbakbpkhgkmjkhfod&satid=25544&date=40128.0007469907

Pennsylvania (Harrisburg)

.....Harrisburg has an exceptional pass today, from 6:14:45 until 6:17:52. The ISS will rise in the southwest, and pass very high in the sky before disappearing into the Earth’s shadow while it is still 66 degrees above the horizon. If you don’t make this, then your next best shot is on Saturday when the ISS will never get above 17 degrees over the western to northern to eastern horizon from 5:19:29 to 5:26:46.

http://www.heavens-above.com/PassSummary.aspx?satid=25544&Session=kebgfgclbakbpkhgkmjkhfod

Pennsylvania (Philadelphia)

.....Philadelphia has an exceptional pass today, from 6:14:47 until 6:17:39. The ISS will rise in the southwest, and pass very high in the sky before disappearing into the Earth’s shadow while it is still 66 degrees above the horizon. If you don’t make this, then your next best shot is on Saturday when the ISS will never get above 17 degrees over the western to northern to eastern horizon from 5:21:56 to 5:25:29.

http://www.heavens-above.com/PassSummary.aspx?satid=25544&Session=kebgfgclbakbpkhgkmjkhfod

Tennessee (Chattanooga)

..... Chattanooga should have good weather on Wednesday and Thursday, so on Wednesday (just after sunset) look from 5:35:46 to 5:51:03 as the ISS, as bright as Jupiter, travels from south of west towards the north, to set in the northeast. The ISS will pass about halfway up the sky, at about 39 degrees above the horizon.

.....Thursday won’t be as bright, but from 6:06:54 to 6:15:36, the ISS will skin the northern horizon, west to east, getting only 15 degrees above the horizon.

http://www.heavens-above.com/PassSummary.aspx?satid=25544&Session=kebgfgclbakbpkhgkmjkhfod