Catch the ISS passing close to Venus, Jupiter and Mars (11-15 September, 2018)

The ISS passes below Jupiter and above Venus and the crescent Moon as seen from Sydney on the evening of Thursday 13 September at 18:41 AEST. Simulated in Stellarium (the ISS will actually be a bright dot), click to embiggen.	The ISS passes above Venus as seen from Adelaide on the  evening of Tuesday 11 September at 19:52 ACST. Simulated in Stellarium (the ISS will actually be a bright dot), click to embiggen.	The ISS passes below Jupiter as seen from Perth on the  evening of Tuesday 11 September at 19:56 AWST. Simulated in Stellarium (the ISS will actually be a bright dot) click to embiggen.
All sky chart showing local times from Heavens Above for Thursday 13 September for Sydney.	All sky chart showing local  times from Heavens Above for Tuesday 11 September for Adelaide.	All sky chart showing local times from Heavens Above for Saturday Tuesday 11 September for Perth.

Starting tomorrow night there are a series of  very bright ISS passes. Many will pass close to bright planets or shoot between the planets and the Moon. However, there are particularly close passes to Venus on the 11th (Adelaide), 12th (Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney, Hobart), 13th (Sydney) 14th and 17th (Darwin), 15th (Brisbane). On other days there are close passes to Jupiter (11th Hobart, 13th Melbourne, 11th,14th Perth) and Mars (11th Sydney, 12th Perth) .

The following tables are from data provided from Heavens Above.

Passes from Adelaide

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

10 Sep -3.1 19:05:53 10° SSW 19:09:05 39° SE 19:10:08 30° E visible 11 Sep -2.3 19:50:30 10° WSW 19:53:34 33° NW 19:53:35 33° NW visible 12 Sep -3.6 18:58:20 10° SW 19:01:42 74° NW 19:04:28 14° NE visible 13 Sep -0.8 19:44:29 10° WNW 19:45:53 12° NW 19:47:16 10° NNW visible 14 Sep -1.5 18:51:19 10° WSW 18:54:06 25° NW 18:56:52 10° N visible

Passes from Brisbane

10 Sep	-0.9	19:39:32	10°	SW	19:40:08	14°	SW	19:40:08	14°	SW	visible
11 Sep	-2.8	18:47:53	10°	SSW	18:50:52	31°	SE	18:50:52	31°	SE	visible
12 Sep	-1.6	19:32:22	10°	WSW	19:34:28	26°	W	19:34:28	26°	W	visible
13 Sep	-3.7	18:40:09	10°	SW	18:43:30	79°	NW	18:45:30	22°	NE	visible
14 Sep	-0.5	19:27:35	10°	WNW	19:27:41	10°	NW	19:27:46	10°	NW	visible
15 Sep	-1.4	18:33:12	10°	WSW	18:35:53	22°	NW	18:38:33	10°	N	visible

Passes from Darwin

10 Sep -0.9 19:39:32 10° SW 19:40:08 14° SW 19:40:08 14° SW visible 11 Sep -2.8 18:47:53 10° SSW 18:50:52 31° SE 18:50:52 31° SE visible 12 Sep -1.6 19:32:22 10° WSW 19:34:28 26° W 19:34:28 26° W visible 13 Sep -3.7 18:40:09 10° SW 18:43:30 79° NW 18:45:30 22° NE visible 14 Sep -0.5 19:27:35 10° WNW 19:27:41 10° NW 19:27:46 10° NW visible 15 Sep -1.4 18:33:12 10° WSW 18:35:53 22° NW 18:38:33 10° N visible

Passes from Melbourne

10 Sep -3.6 19:36:17 10° SW 19:39:39 68° NW 19:40:08 56° N visible 11 Sep -3.6 18:44:22 10° SW 18:47:42 59° SE 18:50:52 11° ENE visible 11 Sep -0.8 20:22:18 10° W 20:23:35 13° WNW 20:23:35 13° WNW visible 12 Sep -1.7 19:29:17 10° WSW 19:32:06 25° NW 19:34:28 12° N visible 13 Sep -2.9 18:36:59 10° WSW 18:40:15 50° NW 18:43:30 10° NNE visible Passes from Perth 10 Sep -2.7 19:09:22 10° SSW 19:12:20 28° SE 19:12:51 27° ESE visible 11 Sep -2.4 19:53:41 10° WSW 19:56:18 38° W 19:56:18 38° W visible 12 Sep -3.9 19:01:38 10° SW 19:05:00 82° SE 19:07:12 20° NE visible 13 Sep -0.9 19:47:19 10° W 19:49:15 14° NW 19:50:59 11° NNW visible 14 Sep -1.9 18:54:27 10° WSW 18:57:26 31° NW 19:00:24 10° NNE visible 16 Sep -0.4 18:48:51 10° WNW 18:49:41 11° NW 18:50:30 10° NW visible Passes from Sydney 10 Sep -2.1 19:38:02 10° SW 19:40:08 34° WSW 19:40:08 34° WSW visible 11 Sep -3.7 18:46:06 10° SW 18:49:26 62° SE 18:50:52 30° ENE visible 12 Sep -1.5 19:31:15 10° W 19:33:46 20° NW 19:34:28 19° NW visible 13 Sep -2.6 18:38:46 10° WSW 18:41:57 42° NW 18:45:07 10° NNE visible 15 Sep -0.8 18:32:15 10° W 18:34:16 15° NW 18:36:15 10° NNW visible Passes from Hobart 10 Sep -2.0 19:36:11 10° WSW 19:39:03 27° NW 19:40:08 22° NNW visible 11 Sep -2.9 18:43:58 10° WSW 18:47:14 49° NW 18:50:30 10° NE visible 12 Sep -0.8 19:30:06 10° WNW 19:31:22 12° NW 19:32:38 10° NNW visible 13 Sep -1.3 18:37:00 10° W 18:39:38 21° NW 18:42:15 10° N 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 Venus 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.