Astroblog: A Nice Series of Bright International Space Sation Passes (7- 15 March 2018)

Wednesday, March 06, 2019

A Nice Series of Bright International Space Sation Passes (7- 15 March 2018)


The ISS passes close to the bright star Rigel, above Orion's Belt as seen from Sydney on the evening of Sunday 10 March at 20:40 AEDST. Simulated in Stellarium (the ISS will actually be a bright dot), click to embiggen.	The ISS passes near the bright star Canopus, as seen from Adelaide on the evening of Saturday 9 March at 20:58 ACDST. Simulated in Stellarium (the ISS will actually be a bright dot), click to embiggen.	The ISS passes below the bright star Canopus, as seen from Perth on the evening of Saturday 9 March at 20:02 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 Sunday 10 March for Sydney.	All sky chart showing local times from Heavens Above for Saturday 9 March for Adelaide.	All sky chart showing local times from Heavens Above for Saturday 9 March for Perth.

Over the next few days there are a series of very bright ISS passes in the evening where the ISS passes close to Canopus (Adelaide 9th, Brisbane 8th, Melbourne 7th and 10th, Sydney 11th, Darwin 13th), the Southern Cross (Adelaide 7th,10th, Brisbane 11th, Melbourne 8th, Sydney 8th and 9th), Mars (Adelaide 11th, (includes Moon)) and some other iconic stars and constellations (Orion, Sydney 10th, Darwin 15th).

The following tables are from data provided from Heavens Above.

Passes from Adelaide (ACDST)

Date	Brightness	Start			Highest point			End			Pass type
Date	(mag)	Time	Alt.	Az.	Time	Alt.	Az.	Time	Alt.	Az.	Pass type
06 Mar	-1.7	21:52:10	10°	SW	21:53:51	26°	SSW	21:53:51	26°	SSW	visible
07 Mar	-2.6	21:01:24	10°	SSW	21:04:24	29°	SE	21:04:55	27°	SE	visible
08 Mar	-1.8	20:10:48	10°	SSW	20:13:13	18°	SSE	20:15:36	10°	ESE	visible
08 Mar	-2.0	21:46:42	10°	WSW	21:48:48	32°	W	21:48:48	32°	W	visible
09 Mar	-3.9	20:55:36	10°	SW	20:58:59	78°	SE	21:00:02	41°	ENE	visible
10 Mar	-3.0	20:04:42	10°	SSW	20:07:54	38°	SE	20:11:04	10°	ENE	visible
10 Mar	-1.2	21:42:01	10°	W	21:44:07	16°	NW	21:44:07	16°	NW	visible
11 Mar	-2.3	20:50:16	10°	WSW	20:53:20	33°	NW	20:55:35	15°	N	visible
12 Mar	-3.5	19:58:59	10°	SW	20:02:21	72°	NW	20:05:40	10°	NE	visible
13 Mar	-0.8	20:46:13	10°	WNW	20:47:27	12°	NW	20:48:41	10°	NNW	visible

Passes from Brisbane (AEST)

06 Mar	-3.4	20:45:41	10°	SW	20:49:02	55°	SSE	20:51:07	20°	ENE	visible
06 Mar	-1.0	22:22:47	10°	W	22:23:51	16°	W	22:23:51	16°	W	visible
07 Mar	-2.7	21:31:22	10°	WSW	21:34:31	36°	NW	21:34:55	35°	NNW	visible
08 Mar	-3.5	20:40:12	10°	WSW	20:43:34	67°	NW	20:46:04	17°	NE	visible
09 Mar	-1.3	21:26:40	10°	W	21:28:45	16°	NW	21:30:02	13°	NNW	visible
10 Mar	-1.9	20:34:58	10°	WSW	20:37:54	27°	NW	20:40:47	10°	NNE	visible
12 Mar	-0.8	20:30:48	10°	WNW	20:32:00	12°	NW	20:33:13	10°	NNW	visible

Passes from Darwin (ACST)

12 Mar	-1.5	20:38:49	10°	SSW	20:39:56	19°	SSW	20:39:56	19°	SSW	visible
13 Mar	-2.3	19:48:22	10°	S	19:51:00	21°	SE	19:51:41	20°	ESE	visible
14 Mar	-2.2	20:33:22	10°	WSW	20:36:21	31°	NW	20:36:24	31°	NW	visible
15 Mar	-3.8	19:42:00	10°	SW	19:45:19	89°	WNW	19:48:30	11°	NE	visible

Passes from Melbourne (AEDST)

06 Mar	-2.0	20:46:33	10°	SSW	20:49:15	21°	SSE	20:51:07	14°	ESE	visible
06 Mar	-1.0	22:22:44	10°	WSW	22:23:51	19°	WSW	22:23:51	19°	WSW	visible
07 Mar	-3.8	21:31:38	10°	SW	21:34:55	81°	S	21:34:55	81°	S	visible
08 Mar	-3.2	20:40:43	10°	SW	20:43:59	43°	SE	20:46:04	19°	E	visible
08 Mar	-0.8	22:17:58	10°	W	22:18:48	14°	W	22:18:48	14°	W	visible
09 Mar	-2.5	21:26:21	10°	WSW	21:29:26	34°	NW	21:30:02	31°	NNW	visible
10 Mar	-3.5	20:35:06	10°	SW	20:38:28	69°	NW	20:41:22	13°	NE	visible
11 Mar	-0.9	21:22:04	10°	W	21:23:36	13°	NW	21:25:09	10°	NNW	visible
12 Mar	-1.6	20:29:57	10°	WSW	20:32:44	24°	NW	20:35:30	10°	N	visible

Passes from Perth (AWST)

06 Mar	-1.0	20:55:37	10°	SSW	20:56:35	17°	SSW	20:56:35	17°	SSW	visible
07 Mar	-2.0	20:05:02	10°	SSW	20:07:40	21°	SE	20:07:40	21°	SE	visible
08 Mar	-1.4	19:14:51	10°	S	19:16:28	13°	SSE	19:18:06	10°	ESE	visible
08 Mar	-1.4	20:50:01	10°	SW	20:51:33	25°	WSW	20:51:33	25°	WSW	visible
09 Mar	-3.6	19:59:00	10°	SW	20:02:20	56°	SE	20:02:47	50°	ESE	visible
10 Mar	-2.5	19:08:15	10°	SSW	19:11:13	28°	SE	19:14:07	10°	E	visible
10 Mar	-1.2	20:45:07	10°	W	20:46:53	18°	WNW	20:46:53	18°	WNW	visible
11 Mar	-2.7	19:53:31	10°	WSW	19:56:43	42°	NW	19:58:21	23°	N	visible
12 Mar	-3.8	19:02:20	10°	SW	19:05:43	84°	SE	19:09:02	10°	NE	visible
13 Mar	-0.9	19:49:05	10°	W	19:50:53	14°	NW	19:52:40	10°	NNW	visible
14 Mar	-1.8	18:57:01	10°	WSW	18:59:57	28°	NW	19:02:52	10°	N	visible

Passes from Sydney (AEDST)

06 Mar	-1.8	20:48:31	10°	SSW	20:51:00	19°	SSE	20:51:07	19°	SE	visible
07 Mar	-1.3	19:58:20	10°	S	19:59:45	12°	SSE	20:01:10	10°	SE	visible
07 Mar	-1.5	21:33:22	10°	SW	21:34:55	25°	SW	21:34:55	25°	SW	visible
08 Mar	-3.3	20:42:28	10°	SW	20:45:43	43°	SE	20:46:04	41°	ESE	visible
09 Mar	-2.3	19:51:46	10°	SSW	19:54:35	24°	SE	19:57:17	11°	E	visible
09 Mar	-1.4	21:28:12	10°	WSW	21:30:02	23°	W	21:30:02	23°	W	visible
10 Mar	-3.4	20:36:51	10°	SW	20:40:11	60°	NW	20:41:22	35°	NNE	visible
11 Mar	-3.7	19:45:48	10°	SW	19:49:09	62°	SE	19:52:28	10°	NE	visible
12 Mar	-1.3	20:31:55	10°	W	20:34:25	19°	NW	20:36:53	10°	N	visible
13 Mar	-2.5	19:40:17	10°	WSW	19:43:29	40°	NW	19:46:38	10°	NNE	visible
15 Mar	-0.8	19:35:48	10°	W	19:37:35	14°	NW	19:39:22	10°	NNW	visible

Passes from Hobart (AEDST)

06 Mar	-3.4	20:45:41	10°	SW	20:49:02	55°	SSE	20:51:07	20°	ENE	visible
06 Mar	-1.0	22:22:47	10°	W	22:23:51	16°	W	22:23:51	16°	W	visible
07 Mar	-2.7	21:31:22	10°	WSW	21:34:31	36°	NW	21:34:55	35°	NNW	visible
08 Mar	-3.5	20:40:12	10°	WSW	20:43:34	67°	NW	20:46:04	17°	NE	visible
09 Mar	-1.3	21:26:40	10°	W	21:28:45	16°	NW	21:30:02	13°	NNW	visible
10 Mar	-1.9	20:34:58	10°	WSW	20:37:54	27°	NW	20:40:47	10°	NNE	visible
12 Mar	-0.8	20:30:48	10°	WNW	20:32:00	12°	NW	20:33:13	10°	NNW	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 a star 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