International Space Station

[Parksy]

I'm off into the garden in a minute to watch the International Space Station go over at 17,000 mph. It's a clear night and the ISS is the brightest thing in the sky, moving from west to south east you can't miss it

 

[Gagakev]

Did you see the light Parksy, or was it your lightpole waving around.

 

[Parksy]

I don't wave it around when I'm at home Kev.
The international Space Station crossed over almost directly overhead at 9:52pm, I didn't see the astronauts waving though, so maybe they needed my lightpole to be able to spot me. B)
The space station will be visible over the UK until the 23rd of this month on clearer nights, Click Here and enter your location to find out when you will be able to see it.

 

[LizziePope]

That's pretty awesome, I must check it out this weekend!

 

[Parksy]

The best time that I saw it was during the final mission of the Space Shuttle Atlantis. The ISS was clearly visible with two smaller light sources with it just ahead on either side in a V formation. One was Atlantis and the other was an automated supply vehicle, the latter are unmanned space vehicles which regularly deliver supplies to the ISS.

 

[Rodone]

And I thought you were a flat earth man!

 

[Parksy]

And I thought you were a flat earth man!

With (very well) hidden depths Rod

 

[Gagakev]

Kept the grandson up on Good Friday on site and it passed over head at 9.58pm
His words " AWESOME"

 

[Parksy]

I'm glad that he saw it Kev, it's surprising what you can see if you know when and where to look.
It's even possible to see a different galaxy to our own with the naked eye on clear nights, the Andromeda galaxy is a spiral galaxy like our own Milky Way, approximately 2.5 million light years away from us and it resembles a fuzzy light source in the Andromeda constellation which is usually high in the north west sky in summer.
The International Space Station will pass over the UK tomorrow evening at around 9pm depending on your location, but this will be the last UK sighting opportunity for April.
You can sign up for email or text alerts which let you know when the ISS and other satellites are potentially visible from your location.

 

[Parksy]

If the cloud cover clears in time tonight (23rd) there will be a meteor shower visible from the UK tonight into the small hours.
The Lyrids meteor shower can produce up to 20 'shooting stars' per hour.