Valentine’s Space Station – Astronomy – Santa Barbara Edhat – Santa Barbara Edhat

more articles like this

Valentine's Space Station updated: Feb 11, 2017, 3:00 PM

By Chuck McPartlin

The International Space Station is back. This list just includes the best Santa Barbara evening passes, which are subject to changes in the orbit of the ISS. To get the latest predictions, visit Heavens Above.

The first two appearances are brief. On Saturday, February 11, the ISS will rise at 6:48 PM in the NNW, and skim very low over our mountain horizon, below the bowl of the Little Dipper, and enter the Earths shadow just before reaching the handle of the Big Dipper in the NNE at 6:48 PM.

On Sunday, it will rise in the NW at 7:30 PM and quickly vanish at 7:31 as it reaches Cepheus.

On Monday at 6:38 PM, the station will rise in the NNW, pass over our mountain horizon through the bowl of the Little Dipper and the Big Dipper, and fade out in the NE at 6:41 PM.

For Valentines Day, the ISS appears in the NW at 7:21 PM, cruises up toward the zenith, and disappears at 7:24 PM before reaching the Pleiades. How many of the sisters can you see?

The best showing of this sequence occurs on Wednesday, when it rises in the NW at 6:29 PM, passes high over our mountain horizon, just missing the heads of Gemini, Castor and Pollux, and then visits bright Procyon before setting in the ESE at 6:35 PM.

On Thursday, the space station will rise at 7:13 PM in the WNW, and sail low over our ocean horizon under Venus and Mars to fade away well below Orion in the S at 7:18 PM. Near where the ISS disappeared, can you spot the second brightest star in the sky, Canopus, just barely peeking over the islands?

On Friday, February 17, the ISS will pop up in the WNW at 6:20 PM, and fly over Venus and Mars, below Orion and Canis Major, to set in the SE at 6:28 PM.

We wont see it on Saturday, but it will start a dim finale on Sunday at 6:12 PM in the W, passing low below Venus and Mars to set below Orion in the S at 6:17 PM. It will then transition to our early morning sky before returning to more civilized timing, at least for night owls, near the end of March.

Hasta nebula - Chuck

3 comments on this article. Read/Add

# # # #

More:
Valentine's Space Station - Astronomy - Santa Barbara Edhat - Santa Barbara Edhat