PSA: Go see the ISS in the sky if you’ve never done it

[e-FTW]

Hey guys, I had never actually had the opportunity to see the ISS. I know, I know: what was I waiting for.
I have no idea! And I get one of these every time there will be a visible pass that day:

Most passes are very early morning and that was problematic (sleep is underrated). This week, we were getting two 8pm-ish passes, right after sunset. Perfect!

So wife and I get out of the house in San Francisco, binoculars and StarWalk 2 in hand trying to see it. Is that it? No, it’s a plane. How about that? Another plane. Man, there are a lot of planes here... ISS does not have blinking lights, I know that.
StarWalk, what’s up? It should be right there...
Maybe it is still too bright out, and we won’t see it. It is pretty high up, so might be quite small too.

Wife: “How about that? If it’s not it, well... I dunno what that is!”

The ISS was a VERY bright object, larger than anything else in the sky, and faster than anything else in the sky.
You will see it, don’t worry. There is no mistaking that thing!

Carry on.

 

[outie]

Saw an object brighter than the rest. Can't tell if it's the ISS without binoculars.

 

[e-FTW]

Saw an object brighter than the rest. Can't tell if it's the ISS without binoculars.

I did not need binoculars; it was clear what this was. ISS or aliens!

 

[byeLT4]

Love looking for it on a clear night. I have an app on my phone called heavens above and it knows your location and will list all the satellites you can see, giving you brightness and details on what you are seeing. ISS never disappoints!

 

[ecarfan]

Most passes are very early morning

The ISS orbits the earth more than 15 times a day. But you can’t see it most of the time because during the day the sun is too bright and during the night it’s, well, dark.

The NASA Spot the Station alerts are only sent to you when the station will be visible based on your local lighting conditions and the likelihood that the station will be visible due to reflected sunlight. So you have to be in the dark, or at least twilight, and the station is above you in sunlight, not in the earths shadow.

That is why you usually get sighting alerts early in the morning, but you can also get them just after sunset.

 

[e-FTW]

The ISS orbits the earth more than 15 times a day. But you can’t see it most of the time because during the day the sun is too bright and during the night it’s, well, dark.

The NASA Spot the Station alerts are only sent to you when the station will be visible based on your local lighting conditions and the likelihood that the station will be visible due to reflected sunlight. So you have to be in the dark, or at least twilight, and the station is above you in sunlight, not in the earths shadow.

That is why you usually get sighting alerts early in the morning, but you can also get them just after sunset.

Correct. Another page on the site describes what they do:

Spot The Station will give you a list of upcoming space station sighting opportunities for your location.

Several times a week, Mission Control at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX, determines sighting opportunities for over 6,700 locations worldwide. If your specific city or town isn’t listed, pick one that is fairly close to you. The space station is visible for a long distance around each of the listed locations.

To look up viewing times for any location on Earth for the ISS and dozens of other satellites, please use NASA’s SkyWatch application.

Again, you can sign up here: International Space Station

 

[ecarfan]

The ISS was a VERY bright object, larger than anything else in the sky, and faster than anything else in the sky.
You will see it, don’t worry. There is no mistaking that thing!

Yep, once you have spotted it for the first time you realize it’s speed and visibility are unique. It’s not like any plane you might see.

However, in my experience the ISS is not as bright as planets like Venus, Saturn, and Jupiter. But of course, you can’t see them move unless you watch them continuously for a long time.

 

[e-FTW]

Yep, once you have spotted it for the first time you realize it’s speed and visibility are unique. It’s not like any plane you might see.

However, in my experience the ISS is not as bright as planets like Venus, Saturn, and Jupiter. But of course, you can’t see them move unless you watch them continuously for a long time.

Well, I guess the post-sunset view is unique that way: stars and planets barely visible, and this bright object slowly streaking from horizon to horizon. Pretty epic!

 

[bxr140]

If you stare at the night sky reasonably close to dawn/dusk you'll see all manner of satellites in LEO. Start by just finding a patch and stare. Eventually you can train your peripheral to widen your field of view. They're typically not very bright but their track across the sky is also unique--definitely not airplane-like. You can often see them crossing the sun line--they quickly go from visible to nothing. The ISS is of course the mother of all LEOs, and has handy apps to show you when/where to look.

There's some free AR satellite tracker apps out there (beyond the ISS specific ones), but I think they're mostly if not exclusively GEO satellites. Cool for sure, but after 3 minutes looking at an AR GEO arc on your phone you kinda get over it. ISS live is much more interesting.

 

[byeLT4]

However, in my experience the ISS is not as bright as planets like Venus, Saturn, and Jupiter. But of course, you can’t see them move unless you watch them continuously for a long time.

On the right days (nights? LOL) the ISS is definitely brighter than Saturn and Jupiter and I'd have to double check but I think even brighter than Venus.

Iridium flares are cool too although short lived, they get VERY bright although they disappear within seconds.

Edit- I just read that iridium flares are becoming a thing of the past as the satellites that produced them are being replaced with newer versions..

 

[Electroman]

Iridium flares

You mean these Iridium satellites produce flares? why? are they burning their small rockets to raise orbits?

 

[bxr140]

You mean these Iridium satellites produce flares? why? are they burning their small rockets to raise orbits?

The original iridium satellites had pretty large, flat, and shiny antennas that were offset from nadir...when you, a satellite, and the sun would all line up just righ, you would see the reflection of the sun on the arrays which look like a flash or flare.

The Next satellites have a much smaller primary array that's pointed nadir, and its also less shiny. So..no flares.

Occasionally if you watch a satellite track across the sky you'll see it increase or decrease intensity, and sometimes flash. Same thing, just way less frequent and much less impressive. It really depends on the satellite configuration and sun angles.

 

[f-stop]

Hey guys, I had never actually had the opportunity to see the ISS. I know, I know: what was I waiting for.
I have no idea! And I get one of these every time there will be a visible pass that day:
View attachment 389072
[...]
The ISS was a VERY bright object, larger than anything else in the sky, and faster than anything else in the sky.
You will see it, don’t worry. There is no mistaking that thing!

I subscribe to these notifications too and enjoy looking for the ISS whenever I get the chance. It's true, after you've spotted it once in the sky there's no mistaking it - and no you don't need binoculars to see it

Yep, once you have spotted it for the first time you realize it’s speed and visibility are unique. It’s not like any plane you might see.

However, in my experience the ISS is not as bright as planets like Venus, Saturn, and Jupiter. But of course, you can’t see them move unless you watch them continuously for a long time.

speaking of Venus and Jupiter, both of which are quite bright in the night sky and also hard to mistake...

... several years ago I was out taking night skyline photos and happened to know that the ISS would pass overhead that night (thanks to SpotTheStation). I also happened to know that both Jupiter and Venus would be visible in the same part of the western sky, so I planned accordingly - see result below.

Photo taken on Jun 5/15 about 1hr15m after sunset - in the upper left of the frame you can see the light trail left by the ISS as it moved up and across the sky (30 sec exposure). The bright spot near where the ISS' trail begins is Jupiter . The other brighter spot lower and further to the right is Venus. (bonus: just to the right of Venus are the stars Pollux and Castor of the constellation Gemini).

 

[ecarfan]

several years ago I was out taking night skyline photos and happened to know that the ISS would pass overhead that night

Nice shot! Looks like you are near the Brockton Point Lighthouse looking towards Canada Place and downtown Vancouver.

Your photo illustrates my point that the ISS is not as bright as Jupiter and Venus.

 

[Nikxice]

Your photo illustrates my point that the ISS is not as bright as Jupiter and Venus.

Just as with Iridium flares, the brightness of the ISS is relative to your location, time of day, and the ISS orientation to the Sun (have to factor in those huge solar panels). The brightest Iridium flares can reach a magnitude -8.0. Venus is our peak planet, up to a magnitude -4.4, but the ISS can sometimes even outshine that at -5.9.

 

[Pricee2]

Per Wikipedia the ISS can reach a magnitude of -6 which would make it brighter than Venus or Saturn and second only to the moon.

 

[Electroman]

Saturn? Why mention Saturn? Isn’t Jupiter the 2nd brightest planet next to Venus?

 

[e-FTW]

Saw it again last night, and it was much less bright, and I spotted it because of its movement pattern (and lack of flashing lights vs planes). Everybody is correct!

 

[RedMS]

What do you mean ISS doesn’t have flashing lights? How are the aliens supposed to see it then?

 

[f-stop]

Nice shot! Looks like you are near the Brockton Point Lighthouse looking towards Canada Place and downtown Vancouver.

you're off by a few kilometers Actually the photo was taken near the south-east end of False Creek, looking west-ish.

perhaps this second shot near the end of the ISS' same pass will more clearly show the location, taken a few minutes later from same spot but with camera pointed to the north-east:

Your photo illustrates my point that the ISS is not as bright as Jupiter and Venus.

Just as with Iridium flares, the brightness of the ISS is relative to your location, time of day, and the ISS orientation to the Sun (have to factor in those huge solar panels). The brightest Iridium flares can reach a magnitude -8.0. Venus is our peak planet, up to a magnitude -4.4, but the ISS can sometimes even outshine that at -5.9.

yes - this, exactly. The magnitude of the ISS will vary for different passes.

BTW, another good resource is Heavens-Above
You can look up upcoming ISS passes, as well as for other satellites like the Iridium and others, plus info on the planets

Unlike SpotTheStation, heavens-above also shows you a little more detail including the magnitude of the ISS for each upcoming pass, for example this screenshot for this week's ISS passes over Vancouver:



Note that there's a button on the heavens-above ISS passes page to include all or only visible ones. This is because sometimes the ISS will pass overhead but not be lit by the sun, or during daytime passes, etc.

Still, SpotTheStation is perhaps the first thing you should use because of the notification feature, as there will be many days/weeks where there's no upcoming ISS pass for your area.

and yes, viewed from earth, Jupiter is brighter than Saturn.