The International Space Station will put in a pair of spectacular appearances Monday and Tuesday if the weather cooperates.
At 8:07 p.m. Monday, the space station will rise in the northwest and move high to the left, passing below the bright star Capella and high above Mars in the west.
Between 8:09 and 8:10 p.m., it will slice through the constellation Gemini on a path roughly parallel to the twins Castor and Pollux. Orion and Canis Major will be below in the west.
The space station will blink out as it enters the Earth’s shadow about 8:11 p.m.
Also in the sky will be Jupiter in the constellation Virgo in the east-southeast, and the bright star Arcturus, also known as Hokule‘a, in the east.
At 7:15 p.m. Tuesday, the space station will again rise in the northwest, but this time will move to the right.
Just before 7:18 p.m., the space station will pass through the pan of the Big Dipper, and then above Arcturus.
Between 7:19 and 7:20 p.m., it will pass just above Jupiter and Virgo’s brightest star, Spica. It will disappear in the southeast about 7:21 p.m.
A third pass will happen Wednesday but won’t be as bright.
The station will appear just below Mars in the west-northwest at about 8 p.m. and move to the left, just above the horizon, passing under Orion and his faithful canine companion, then above the bright star Canopus before vanishing in the south about 8:04 p.m.
The space station typically is visible just before dawn and just after dusk when it is illuminated by the sun against the darker sky. It is currently 249 miles up and moving at 17,150 mph.
Aboard are U.S. astronaut Peggy Whitson, a biochemist and mission commander, cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy and French astronaut Thomas Pesquet.
ON THE NET: Heavens Above
