Five Planets are aligned and visible for the next several days in the early morning Wyoming sky and if you enjoy star gazing, I thought you might also enjoy a chance to view of the international space station.NASA has published the scheduled viewing times for folks wanting to get a glimpse of the space station as it orbits around the earth and will be visible from Wyoming multiple times next week. The viewing windows are extremely short in some instances and the space station might look like a shooting star or an aircraft passing over head in the night sky.

But the good news is that you don't have to wake up super early to see the international space station when it passes overhead.  All of next weeks viewing times come in the early evening.

The following chart shows the date and time / length of time visible / where it will appear and disappear in the night sky.

Date-Time                 Visible   Max Height   Appears                 Disappears
Sun Jan 31, 6:55 PM     1 min         20°         11° above S             20° above SSE
Mon Feb 1, 6:03 PM      3 min         13°         10° above SSE        11° above ESE
Mon Feb 1, 7:38 PM      1 min         23°         10° above WSW      23° above WSW
Tue Feb 2, 6:45 PM       4 min         57°         10° above SW         47° above E
Wed Feb 3, 5:53 PM     6 min         30°         10° above SSW       10° above ENE

How do I Spot The Station?

Time is when the sighting opportunity will begin in your local time zone. All sightings will occur within a few hours before or after sunrise or sunset. This is the optimum viewing period as the sun reflects off the space station and contrasts against the darker sky.

Visible is the maximum time period the space station is visible before crossing back below the horizon.

Max Height is measured in degrees (also known as elevation). It represents the height of the space station from the horizon in the night sky. The horizon is at zero degrees, and directly overhead is ninety degrees. If you hold your fist at arm’s length and place your fist resting on the horizon, the top will be about 10 degrees.

Appears is the location in the sky where the station will be visible first. This value, like maximum height, also is measured in degrees from the horizon. The letters represent compass directions -- N is north, WNW is west by northwest, and so on.

Disappears represents where in the night sky the International Space Station will leave your field of view.

Source: nasa.gov

 

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