How to spot the ISS

15 August 2009 · 2 comments

From time to time I receive an alert via Twitter that tells me the ISS will be passing later that day, with a link for more information.

International SPace Station. I’ve had a couple of memorable sightings of the International Space Station (ISS). Earlier this year I glanced out of the window and saw an incredibly bright object moving roughly North West to South West across the night sky. It was moving fast, but was visible for a comparatively long time.

A couple of years ago though I happened to catch the ISS, docked with the Shuttle, at dusk, just as they were venting water. We were standing in twilight, but the spacecraft were in full sun, with the spray behind them, sailing across from roughly West to East. It was a magnificent sight.

I seldom think to actually check when the ISS will be visible, and even if I do I tend to forget, or it’s cloudy.

Recently though I signed up for alerts via Twitter through Twisst:

Twisst – tweeting ISS passings near you

Would you like to know what the next time is the Internationale Space Station will fly over? Please head over to Twitter and start following @twisst.

Twisst will send you an alert each time you will be able to see ISS pass at your location. The alerts are highly personalized, as Twisst uses the location you entered in your Twitter bio, either as text or as coordinates.

A twisst tweet. Now from time to time I receive an alert via Twitter that tells me the ISS will be passing later that day, with a link for more information.

When I visit the information page I see details about the actual location, direction and brightness of the ISS.

Twisst detail. This is such a great service. It’s convenient, tailored to me, reaches me through a channel I follow on my Mac, iPod touch and iPhone, and gives me just the information I need without extra ‘bumf’.

The ISS is passing again this evening and will be extremely bright. I doubt that means I’ll see it through the cloud that’s come in though. Sigh.

ISS photo courtesy of NASA Images.

2 comments

Tagged as: ISS, space station, Twitter

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Mike 15 August 2009 at 19:03 42

I like the site at http://www.heavens-above.com as you can tune it to your location and it will tell you not only about the ISS but other visible objects as well.

Here are future ISS sightings for my location in Wellington:

Date Mag Starts Max. altitude Ends
Time Alt. Az. Time Alt. Az. Time Alt. Az.
15 Aug -2.8 18:09:23 10 WNW 18:12:20 58 SSW 18:15:17 10 SE
15 Aug -0.3 19:46:15 10 SW 19:47:14 14 SW 19:47:14 14 SW
16 Aug -1.4 18:35:06 10 W 18:37:37 24 SSW 18:40:01 11 SSE
17 Aug -0.7 19:01:18 10 SW 19:03:05 15 SSW 19:04:16 12 SSE
18 Aug -1.3 17:50:07 10 W 17:52:36 23 SSW 17:55:05 10 SSE
18 Aug -0.5 19:27:33 10 SSW 19:28:28 11 S 19:28:28 11 S
19 Aug -0.7 18:16:20 10 SW 18:18:04 14 SSW 18:19:48 10 SSE
20 Aug -0.6 18:42:32 10 SSW 18:43:38 12 S 18:44:44 10 SSE
21 Aug -0.7 19:07:53 10 SSW 19:09:14 12 S 19:09:26 12 SSE
22 Aug -0.6 17:57:27 10 SSW 17:58:33 11 S 17:59:40 10 SSE
22 Aug -0.7 19:32:38 10 SSW 19:33:37 15 S 19:33:37 15 S
23 Aug -0.8 18:22:44 10 SSW 18:24:13 12 S 18:25:30 10 SE
23 Aug -0.2 19:57:20 10 SW 19:57:49 13 SW 19:57:49 13 SW
24 Aug -1.3 18:47:27 10 SSW 18:49:36 18 SSE 18:50:33 16 SE

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Miraz Jordan 15 August 2009 at 20:41 52

Thanks Mike. Thats the one I never remember to look at. :-)

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