Astroblog: Bright ISS passes shoot past Saturn and Jupiter (4-11 November, 2020)

Wednesday, November 04, 2020

Bright ISS passes shoot past Saturn and Jupiter (4-11 November, 2020)


The ISS as seen from Melbourne on the evening of Wednesday 5 November at 20:46 AEDST. Simulated in Stellarium (the ISS will actually be a bright dot), click to embiggen.	The ISS as seen from Adelaide on the evening of Saturday 7 November at 20:18 ACDST. Simulated in Stellarium (the ISS will actually be a bright dot), click to embiggen.	The ISS as seen from Perth on the evening of Saturday 7 November at 19:21 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 Wednesday 5 November for Melbourne .	All sky chart showing local times from Heavens Above for Saturday 7 November for Adelaide.	All sky chart showing local times from Heavens Above for Saturday 7 November for Perth.

Over the next few days there are a series of bright ISS passes in the late evening twilight/early evening. The outstanding passes are when the ISS passes below or through Jupiter and Saturn (See above and Sydney 5th), or Mars (Sydney 6th) and in some sites through the pointers (Adelaide 5th , Brisbane 6th), or very close to these bright stars.

The following tables are from data provided from Heavens Above. Particularly impressive passes are highlighted.

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
04 Nov	-3.8	21:01:32	10°	SW	21:04:59	89°	NW	21:06:23	33°	NE	visible
05 Nov	-3.2	20:13:49	10°	SW	20:17:10	48°	SE	20:20:28	10°	ENE	visible
05 Nov	-1.1	21:51:53	10°	W	21:53:37	13°	NW	21:53:41	13°	NW	visible
06 Nov	-1.9	21:03:08	10°	WSW	21:05:59	24°	NW	21:08:06	14°	N	visible
07 Nov	-2.9	20:14:58	10°	WSW	20:18:17	46°	NW	20:21:33	10°	NNE	visible

Passes from Brisbane (AEST)

Date	Brightness	Start			Highest point			End			Pass type
Date	(mag)	Time	Alt.	Az.	Time	Alt.	Az.	Time	Alt.	Az.	Pass type
04 Nov	-1.4	18:59:51	10°	S	19:01:47	14°	SE	19:03:25	11°	ESE	visible
04 Nov	-0.8	20:35:29	10°	WSW	20:36:23	16°	WSW	20:36:23	16°	WSW	visible
05 Nov	-3.7	19:47:32	10°	SW	19:50:43	76°	SW	19:50:43	76°	SW	visible
06 Nov	-3.2	18:59:51	10°	SSW	19:03:09	44°	SE	19:05:08	20°	ENE	visible
07 Nov	-1.7	19:49:21	10°	WSW	19:51:55	20°	NW	19:52:35	19°	NW	visible
08 Nov	-2.6	19:00:59	10°	WSW	19:04:13	40°	NW	19:07:09	12°	NNE	visible
10 Nov	-0.7	19:04:30	10°	WNW	19:05:03	10°	WNW	19:05:36	10°	NW	visible

Passes from Darwin (ACT)

Date	Brightness	Start			Highest point			End			Pass type
Date	(mag)	Time	Alt.	Az.	Time	Alt.	Az.	Time	Alt.	Az.	Pass type
07 Nov	-0.7	20:54:52	10°	SW	20:55:33	15°	SW	20:55:33	15°	SW	visible
08 Nov	-2.9	20:07:16	10°	SSW	20:10:08	38°	SE	20:10:08	38°	SE	visible
09 Nov	-1.9	19:20:10	10°	S	19:22:37	18°	SE	19:24:47	11°	E	visible
09 Nov	-0.6	20:57:06	10°	W	20:57:46	13°	W	20:57:46	13°	W	visible
10 Nov	-2.4	20:08:23	10°	WSW	20:11:29	34°	NW	20:12:30	27°	NNW	visible
11 Nov	-3.7	19:20:20	10°	SW	19:23:43	86°	NW	19:27:04	10°	NE	visible
13 Nov	-1.0	19:22:27	10°	W	19:24:38	16°	NW	19:26:48	10°	NNW	visible

Passes from Hobart (AEDST)

Date	Brightness	Start			Highest point			End			Pass type
Date	(mag)	Time	Alt.	Az.	Time	Alt.	Az.	Time	Alt.	Az.	Pass type
04 Nov	-1.2	21:32:49	10°	W	21:34:43	14°	NW	21:36:23	11°	NNW	visible
05 Nov	-1.8	20:44:17	10°	W	20:47:05	23°	NW	20:49:51	10°	N	visible

Passes from Melbourne (AEDST)

Date	Brightness	Start			Highest point			End			Pass type
Date	(mag)	Time	Alt.	Az.	Time	Alt.	Az.	Time	Alt.	Az.	Pass type
04 Nov	-2.3	21:32:22	10°	WSW	21:35:24	30°	NW	21:36:23	25°	NNW	visible
05 Nov	-3.2	20:44:20	10°	WSW	20:47:42	55°	NW	20:50:43	12°	NE	visible
07 Nov	-1.3	20:46:16	10°	W	20:48:36	17°	NW	20:50:55	10°	N	visible

Passes from Perth (AWST)

Date	Brightness	Start			Highest point			End			Pass type
Date	(mag)	Time	Alt.	Az.	Time	Alt.	Az.	Time	Alt.	Az.	Pass type
04 Nov	-3.7	20:05:08	10°	SW	20:08:34	67°	SE	20:09:20	47°	ENE	visible
05 Nov	-2.7	19:17:31	10°	SSW	19:20:43	35°	SE	19:23:41	11°	ENE	visible
05 Nov	-1.1	20:55:06	10°	W	20:56:38	15°	WNW	20:56:38	15°	WNW	visible
06 Nov	-2.2	20:06:33	10°	WSW	20:09:36	30°	NW	20:11:03	21°	N	visible
07 Nov	-3.3	19:18:29	10°	SW	19:21:53	61°	NW	19:25:13	10°	NNE	visible
09 Nov	-1.1	19:20:33	10°	W	19:22:46	16°	NW	19:24:58	10°	NNW	visible

Passes from Sydney (AEDST)

Date	Brightness	Start			Highest point			End			Pass type
Date	(mag)	Time	Alt.	Az.	Time	Alt.	Az.	Time	Alt.	Az.	Pass type
04 Nov	-2.3	19:57:23	10°	SSW	20:00:23	27°	SE	20:03:22	10°	E	visible
04 Nov	-1.7	21:34:16	10°	WSW	21:36:23	22°	WNW	21:36:23	22°	WNW	visible
05 Nov	-3.0	20:46:06	10°	WSW	20:49:24	46°	NW	20:50:43	29°	N	visible
06 Nov	-3.7	19:58:12	10°	SW	20:01:39	87°	SE	20:05:03	10°	NE	visible
07 Nov	-1.1	20:48:32	10°	W	20:50:17	13°	NW	20:52:01	10°	NNW	visible
08 Nov	-1.8	19:59:46	10°	WSW	20:02:38	25°	NW	20:05:27	10°	N	visible

When and what you will see is VERY location dependent, so you need to use Heavens Above 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 planet 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