It's a bird! It's a plane! It's the International Space Station! There will be several passings of the ISS this weekend, but some will be better than others. I will explain why and tell you when to head outside and how to find the ISS in the night sky below!
WHERE AND WHEN TO LOOK
FRIDAY: This viewing is pretty long and at a good time during the evening. It will appear in the west-southwestern part of the sky at 10 degrees. It will move across the sky and set in the northeastern part of the sky at 19 degrees above the horizon. The ISS will be visible Friday night at 8:57 p.m. for six minutes. The max height will be 57 degrees above the horizon, so it will be about halfway up the sky. Try to get away from trees or buildings to see it easier!
SATURDAY & SUNDAY: There are two other ISS passings this weekend, BUT I think a storm system currently out to our west will ruin the show by Saturday evening with increasing clouds. Which is too bad because it will be a high altitude and long duration passing. Even though it will likely be too cloudy, the ISS will be over our heads on Saturday at 8:09 p.m. for seven minutes with a peak height of 86 degrees! Dang you, clouds!
If you are outside, the clouds will keep it milder Saturday evening, and since it is such a great pass, I think it is still worth looking up in the sky shortly after 8 p.m. It will be moving from the Southwest to the Northeast. The story is similar on Sunday because this is the best chance for spotty showers and isolated thunderstorms, but Sunday's passing is much lower in the sky at only 27 degrees.
HOW TO FIND IT
For perspective, the horizon is at zero degrees, and directly overhead is 90 degrees. If you hold your fist at arm’s length and place your fist resting on the horizon, the top will be about 10 degrees. The space station looks like an airplane or a very bright star moving across the sky, except it doesn’t have flashing lights or change direction. It will also be moving considerably faster than a typical airplane. It travels at about 17,500 mph! Use the image below to help! In the example below, the max height is 66 degrees.
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