The International Space Station (ISS) is about to make an extraordinary series of flybys over the United States. Beginning this July 4th weekend, the station will appear once, twice, and sometimes three times a day for many days in a row. It’s not a matter where you live, but you should have at least a few opportunities to see the biggest spaceship ever built.
In the bright evening twilight, the International Space Station soars over Hawaii's Kilauea Volcano on 3rd June, 2009. This above image is credit by Stephen O'Meara.
Check NASA's ISS Tracker for flyby times this ISS has been under construction for nearly 11 years, and it has grown very big and very bright. The station at present has developed more than 350 ft wide (wider than a football field), has 12,600 cubic feet of labs and living quarters, and on Earth would weigh about 670,000 lb.
Sunlight illuminating the massive outpost makes it to shine fifteen times brighter than Sirius, the brightest star in the sky, sometimes even brighter than that. Sunlight glinting from the station's flat surfaces (mainly solar arrays) produces dazzling flares to the extent that six hundred times brighter than Sirius. For the note of astronomers-on the scale of visual magnitudes, space station flares register-8.
Amateur astronomer Quintus Oostendorp reports that "The station flared spectacularly on 22nd May when it is passed over my backyard observatory in the Netherlands”. He also said that, "I knew the ISS was coming, so I had kept my telescope ready and I was able see what had happened exactly” and this launch movie was recorded by him through his 12-inch Newtonian reflector.
Sunlight glints from the space station's solar arrays on 22nd May of 2009 this photo was credited by Quintus Oostendorp of Vaassen, the Netherlands. Right now, the flares are unpredictable and no one knows when they will happen or exactly how bright they will be.
The marathon of space station flybys won't
stop until mid-to-late July (depending on your location) which gives space shuttle Endeavour, currently scheduled to launch on 11th July, time to reach the space station and join the show. As the shuttle approaches station for docking, many observers will witness an unforgettable double flyby—Endeavour and the ISS sailing side by side across the starry night sky.
In the bright evening twilight, the International Space Station soars over Hawaii's Kilauea Volcano on 3rd June, 2009. This above image is credit by Stephen O'Meara.
Check NASA's ISS Tracker for flyby times this ISS has been under construction for nearly 11 years, and it has grown very big and very bright. The station at present has developed more than 350 ft wide (wider than a football field), has 12,600 cubic feet of labs and living quarters, and on Earth would weigh about 670,000 lb.
Sunlight illuminating the massive outpost makes it to shine fifteen times brighter than Sirius, the brightest star in the sky, sometimes even brighter than that. Sunlight glinting from the station's flat surfaces (mainly solar arrays) produces dazzling flares to the extent that six hundred times brighter than Sirius. For the note of astronomers-on the scale of visual magnitudes, space station flares register-8.
Amateur astronomer Quintus Oostendorp reports that "The station flared spectacularly on 22nd May when it is passed over my backyard observatory in the Netherlands”. He also said that, "I knew the ISS was coming, so I had kept my telescope ready and I was able see what had happened exactly” and this launch movie was recorded by him through his 12-inch Newtonian reflector.
Sunlight glints from the space station's solar arrays on 22nd May of 2009 this photo was credited by Quintus Oostendorp of Vaassen, the Netherlands. Right now, the flares are unpredictable and no one knows when they will happen or exactly how bright they will be.
The marathon of space station flybys won't
stop until mid-to-late July (depending on your location) which gives space shuttle Endeavour, currently scheduled to launch on 11th July, time to reach the space station and join the show. As the shuttle approaches station for docking, many observers will witness an unforgettable double flyby—Endeavour and the ISS sailing side by side across the starry night sky.
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