Astroblog: A good week for ISS passes (close to Orion and the Moon. 20-25 February, 2018)

Monday, February 19, 2018

A good week for ISS passes (close to Orion and the Moon. 20-25 February, 2018)


The ISS passes between Orion and the crescent Moon, as seen from Melbourne on the evening of Wednesday 21 February at 21:23 AEDST. Simulated in Stellarium (the ISS will actually be a bright dot), click to embiggen.	The ISS passes through Orion's belt, as seen from Adelaide on the evening of Wednesday 21 February at 20:52 ACDST. Simulated in Stellarium (the ISS will actually be a bright dot), click to embiggen.	The ISS passes close to the crescent Moon, as seen from Perth on the evening of Wednesday 21 February at 19:54 AWST. Simulated in Stellarium (the ISS will actually be a bright dot), the inset shows the binocular view of the close pass.click to embiggen.

All sky chart showing local times from Heavens Above for Wednesday 21 February for Melbourne.	All sky chart showing local times from Heavens Above for Wednesday 21 February for Adelaide.	All sky chart showing local times from Heavens Above for Wednesday 21 February for Perth.

Over the next few days there are a series of very bright ISS pass, some in the morning where the IS passes close to Antares and the bright planets Jupiter and Mars and some in the evening where the ISS passes through or above Orion, in some locations the pass is close to the crescent Moon. There is a particularly close pass near Perth, and in some locations the ISS may pass over the Moon.

The following tables are from data provided from Heavens Above.

Passes from Adelaide

Date	Brightness	Start			Highest point			End			Pass type
Date	(mag)	Time	Alt.	Az.	Time	Alt.	Az.	Time	Alt.	Az.	Pass type

20 Feb	-3.6	05:09:45	54°	SSW	05:10:18	69°	SE	05:13:36	10°	NE	visible
20 Feb	-3.2	21:44:18	10°	WNW	21:47:33	56°	SW	21:48:51	32°	SSE	visible
21 Feb	-2.1	05:55:01	18°	NW	05:55:01	18°	NW	05:56:45	10°	N	visible
21 Feb	-3.9	20:52:04	10°	NW	20:55:21	66°	NE	20:58:40	10°	SE	visible
21 Feb	-0.8	22:30:07	10°	WSW	22:32:08	15°	SSW	22:32:50	14°	SSW	visible
22 Feb	-1.4	21:36:55	10°	W	21:39:42	24°	SSW	21:42:29	10°	SSE	visible
23 Feb	-2.5	20:44:09	10°	WNW	20:47:20	43°	SW	20:50:33	10°	SE	visible
24 Feb	-0.7	21:30:21	10°	SW	21:31:57	13°	SSW	21:33:34	10°	S	visible
25 Feb	-1.1	20:36:54	10°	W	20:39:26	20°	SSW	20:42:00	10°	SSE	visible
27 Feb	-0.7	20:30:37	10°	SW	20:31:39	11°	SSW	20:32:42	10°	S	visible

Passes from Brisbane

20 Feb	-0.3	03:06:55	11°	SSE	03:07:18	11°	SE	03:08:18	10°	SE	visible
20 Feb	-3.7	04:40:45	10°	SW	04:44:01	54°	NW	04:47:15	10°	NNE	visible
20 Feb	-3.1	19:38:51	10°	NW	19:42:06	56°	SW	19:45:23	10°	SSE	visible
21 Feb	-3.1	03:52:11	54°	ESE	03:52:11	54°	ESE	03:55:07	10°	NE	visible
21 Feb	-3.7	18:46:42	10°	NNW	18:49:56	56°	NE	18:53:11	10°	SE	visible
21 Feb	-0.4	20:25:50	10°	SW	20:26:39	11°	SW	20:27:29	10°	SSW	visible
22 Feb	-1.5	04:37:38	12°	NNW	04:37:38	12°	NNW	04:38:05	10°	NNW	visible
22 Feb	-1.0	19:31:43	10°	W	19:34:14	20°	SW	19:36:46	10°	S	visible

Passes from Darwin

20 Feb	-1.6	05:47:03	10°	S	05:49:57	28°	SE	05:52:48	10°	ENE	visible
21 Feb	-0.5	04:56:21	10°	SSE	04:57:41	12°	SE	04:59:00	10°	ESE	visible
21 Feb	-0.8	19:47:14	10°	W	19:49:40	19°	SW	19:52:06	10°	S	visible
22 Feb	-4.0	05:40:28	29°	SW	05:41:57	68°	NW	05:45:11	10°	NNE	visible

Passes from Melbourne

20 Feb	-0.5	04:06:56	10°	E	04:06:56	10°	E	04:07:01	10°	E	visible
20 Feb	-3.3	05:39:45	29°	W	05:40:46	37°	NW	05:43:52	10°	NNE	visible
20 Feb	-2.1	20:40:52	10°	NNE	20:42:58	16°	NE	20:45:05	10°	E	visible
20 Feb	-2.7	22:15:56	10°	WNW	22:18:51	45°	SW	22:18:51	45°	SW	visible
21 Feb	-3.9	21:23:36	10°	NW	21:26:55	87°	NE	21:30:06	11°	SE	visible
21 Feb	-0.5	23:01:38	10°	WSW	23:02:50	14°	SW	23:02:50	14°	SW	visible
22 Feb	-3.3	20:31:37	10°	NNW	20:34:45	40°	NE	20:37:55	10°	ESE	visible
22 Feb	-1.4	22:08:35	10°	W	22:11:20	23°	SSW	22:13:31	13°	SSE	visible
23 Feb	-2.3	21:15:49	10°	WNW	21:18:57	38°	SSW	21:22:07	10°	SE	visible
23 Feb	-0.4	22:55:21	10°	SSW	22:56:12	11°	SSW	22:56:31	11°	S	visible
24 Feb	-0.7	22:01:44	10°	SW	22:03:37	14°	SSW	22:05:31	10°	SSE	visible
25 Feb	-1.2	21:08:32	10°	WSW	21:11:06	20°	SSW	21:13:40	10°	SSE	visible
27 Feb	-0.8	21:01:45	10°	SW	21:03:20	13°	SSW	21:04:55	10°	S	visible

Passes from Perth

20 Feb	-2.9	04:12:33	35°	S	04:13:34	49°	SE	04:16:47	10°	ENE	visible
20 Feb	-2.1	20:46:45	10°	WNW	20:49:48	33°	SW	20:51:37	19°	SSE	visible
21 Feb	-2.6	04:57:52	23°	NW	04:57:52	23°	NW	05:00:21	10°	N	visible
21 Feb	-3.6	19:54:15	10°	NW	19:57:33	74°	SW	20:00:54	10°	SE	visible
22 Feb	-0.7	20:40:00	10°	WSW	20:42:03	15°	SSW	20:44:07	10°	S	visible
23 Feb	-1.5	19:46:46	10°	W	19:49:38	26°	SW	19:52:32	10°	SSE	visible
25 Feb	-0.7	19:40:16	10°	WSW	19:41:51	13°	SSW	19:43:26	10°	S	visible

Passes from Sydney

20 Feb	-1.0	04:06:55	19°	ESE	04:06:55	19°	ESE	04:08:37	10°	E	visible
20 Feb	-3.0	05:39:44	12°	WSW	05:42:27	31°	NW	05:45:25	10°	NNE	visible
20 Feb	-3.6	20:39:52	10°	NNW	20:43:03	47°	NE	20:46:04	11°	ESE	visible
20 Feb	-0.6	22:17:28	10°	WSW	22:18:50	15°	SW	22:18:50	15°	SW	visible
21 Feb	-2.1	04:52:11	24°	NE	04:52:11	24°	NE	04:53:38	10°	NE	visible
21 Feb	-1.7	21:24:25	10°	W	21:27:21	28°	SW	21:30:07	11°	SSE	visible
22 Feb	-3.1	20:31:47	10°	WNW	20:35:02	56°	SW	20:38:21	10°	SE	visible
23 Feb	-0.7	21:17:43	10°	WSW	21:19:37	14°	SSW	21:21:30	10°	S	visible
24 Feb	-1.3	20:24:25	10°	W	20:27:09	23°	SW	20:29:54	10°	SSE	visible
26 Feb	-0.7	20:17:59	10°	SW	20:19:23	12°	SSW	20:20:48	10°	S	visible

When and what you will see is VERY location dependent, so you need to use either Heavens Above or CalSky to get site specific predictions for your location, a small difference in location can mean the difference between the ISS passing over the Moon (or the stars in Orion's Belt) or missing it completely.

As always, start looking several minutes before the pass is going to start to get yourself oriented and your eyes dark adapted. Be patient, there may be slight differences in the time of the ISS appearing due to orbit changes not picked up by the predictions. Use the most recent prediction for your site.

Labels: ISS, Satellite, unaided eye