Viewing the International Space Station (ISS)

An 8 second exposure showing the ISS (on the right) and the Shuttle Atlantis

On a clear night it is quite possible to see many tiny, silent satellites moving amongst the stars. However, one satellite is easier to see than most others - the International Space Station, or ISS for short.

This bit of space hardware has grown since the first bit went up on 20 November 1998. Now, the bigger something gets in space, the more sunlight it reflects and thus the brighter it appears in the sky. This is good news as it makes the ISS easier to see.

In some respects the ISS looks just like an aircraft moving in the night or darkening skies. The differences are that the Station makes no noise (it's around 300km up and it doesn't have jet engines!) and you will not see any flashing lights.

An average fly-over will take four to five minutes, so you have plenty of time to go out and catch this slow-moving starlike thing.

[ NEXT ]