Space Station Viewing Times

The International Space Station can sometimes be seen fom Lincoln. It appears as a bright star, moving across the sky from West to East, travelling faster than high flying aircraft and usually brighter than most stars.

A typical flyby looks like this: A dim speck of light -- the ISS -- appears near the horizon. It brightens quickly, then glides leisurely across the sky, crossing it in 3 to 5 minutes. At its best, the station can outshine every star and planet except the Sun, the Moon and possibly Venus. More often it looks like an ordinary star, eye-catching because it moves (the ISS orbits Earth every 90 minutes at an altitude of 375 km).

There are no bright lights on the outside of the station. It glows by reflecting sunlight, as much as 90% of the light that hits it. Much of the ship is covered by a light-colored insulating blanket; other surfaces are painted white or made of anodized aluminium. Even the awesome solar arrays, which must absorb sunlight to power the station, aren't completely black. Their reflectivity is near 35%.

Because the station shines by reflection, we can see it only during the hours around local sunset or dawn. Those are the times when the sky above can be dark and, simultaneously, the ISS can be brightly lit by the rising or setting Sun.

The times are for latitude 53.2°N, 0.5°W and are accurate to around one minute for the first observation or five minutes for those near the bottom of the table.

The table is organised as follows:

> Date
> Magnitude: A measure of the brightness of the Space Station. The lower the figure, the brighter the star.
> Visibility Starts: Time and direction when the Station becomes visible (or leaves the Earths shadow - morning apparition). At     altitudes below 10 degrees the station is difficult to observe. Times are UK local time. (BST or GMT depending on the season)
> Max. Altitude:  The maximum elevation from the horizon during visibility
> Visibility Ends: The time and direction when the Station enters the Earths shadow (evening apparition). It is possible to    continue to observe below 10 degrees but usually only with binoculars.
 
We are seeking permission from the copyright holder to automatically import the table directly into this page but in the meantime please click here for the table on the 'Heavens Above' Website.

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