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Wednesday, April 03, 2024

Bright ISS passes near the Lineup of Mars, Saturn, moon and Venus, 4-11 April, 2024 (plus some Tiangong passes)

ISS as seen from Brisbane on the evening of  Saturday 7 April at 4:27 AEST. Simulated in Stellarium,  the ISS is passing directly over the Moon. Click to embiggen.ISS  as seen from Adelaide on the evening of  Friday 5 April at 6:59 ACDST. Simulated in Stellarium (the ISS will actually be a bright dot). Click to embiggen.ISS as seen from Perth on the evening of  Friday 5 April at 6:03 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 Saturday 7 April for Brisbane.All sky chart showing local  times from Heavens Above for Friday 5 April for Adelaide.All sky chart showing local times from Heavens Above for Friday 5 April for Perth. 


I normally don't bother with morning passes of the ISS, as geeing up is a pain. However, this time the ISS passes coincide with a very nice lineup of the Crescent Moon, Mars, Saturn, and Venus. In some cases the ISS passes through the lineup, and for Brisbane on the 7th, the ISS passes over the Moon! Well worth getting up for.

Also in this time frame there are a series of  bright Tiangong passes in the late evening twilight/early evening and the early morning. See Heavens Above for details.

 
The following tables are from data provided from Heavens Above. Particularly impressive passes are highlighted in yellow. Daylight savings ends on Sunday April 7.
   

Passes from Adelaide (ACDST/ACST) 

Date Brightness Start Highest point End Pass type
(mag) Time Alt. Az. Time Alt. Az. Time Alt. Az.
03 Apr-1.206:54:5610°SSW06:57:2518°SSE06:59:5310°ESEvisible
04 Apr-0.906:07:1810°S06:08:5613°SSE06:10:3310°SEvisible
05 Apr-2.706:54:3110°SW06:57:5045°SE07:01:0610°ENEvisible
06 Apr-1.806:07:1315°SSW06:09:2627°SE06:12:2210°Evisible
07 Apr-1.004:21:2417°SE04:21:2417°SE04:23:1910°ESEvisible
07 Apr-3.505:54:3410°WSW05:57:5351°NW06:01:1010°NNEvisible
08 Apr-3.705:08:3845°SW05:09:3480°SE05:12:5610°NEvisible
09 Apr-1.204:23:0321°E04:23:0321°E04:24:2410°ENEvisible
09 Apr-1.805:56:0012°W05:57:3715°NW05:59:3910°NNWvisible
10 Apr-2.105:10:3123°NNW05:10:3123°NNW05:12:1810°NNEvisible
11 Apr-1.719:21:3810°N19:22:5217°NNE19:22:5217°NNEvisible
12 Apr-1.618:34:3010°NNE18:36:0713°NE18:37:1211°ENEvisible
12 Apr-1.020:09:1110°WNW20:10:0917°WNW20:10:0917°WNWvisible


Passes from Brisbane (AEST) 

Date Brightness Start Highest point End Pass type
(mag) Time Alt. Az. Time Alt. Az. Time Alt. Az.
07 Apr-1.404:52:1010°SSW04:54:5322°SE04:57:3410°Evisible
08 Apr-0.804:05:4112°SSE04:06:2213°SE04:07:5810°ESEvisible
09 Apr-3.704:53:0324°SW04:54:5680°SE04:58:1810°NEvisible
10 Apr-1.704:07:3329°E04:07:3329°E04:09:4010°ENEvisible
10 Apr-1.919:03:5610°NNW19:05:2522°N19:05:2522°Nvisible
11 Apr-2.304:55:0623°NW04:55:0623°NW04:57:2410°Nvisible
11 Apr-2.118:16:2010°N18:18:4518°NE18:19:5416°Evisible
11 Apr-0.419:52:2710°W19:52:5112°W19:52:5112°Wvisible
12 Apr-3.019:03:2910°WNW19:06:4749°SW19:07:1246°SSWvisible

Passes from Darwin (ACST) 

Date Brightness Start Highest point End Pass type
(mag) Time Alt. Az. Time Alt. Az. Time Alt. Az.
08 Apr-2.720:03:5610°NNW20:06:0834°N20:06:0834°Nvisible
09 Apr-0.905:58:5110°S06:01:0316°SE06:03:1510°Evisible
09 Apr-2.319:16:1510°N19:18:5121°NE19:20:4914°Evisible
09 Apr-0.220:53:3610°W20:53:4711°W20:53:4711°Wvisible
10 Apr-1.920:04:0210°WNW20:07:0029°SW20:08:2321°Svisible
11 Apr-3.705:58:0414°SSW06:00:5577°SE06:04:1410°NEvisible
11 Apr-3.519:15:1310°NW19:18:3372°SW19:21:5510°SSEvisible
12 Apr-2.005:12:4130°ESE05:12:4130°ESE05:15:2810°ENEvisible


Passes from Hobart (AEDST/AEST)  

Date Brightness Start Highest point End Pass type
(mag) Time Alt. Az. Time Alt. Az. Time Alt. Az.
03 Apr-2.005:49:2321°SSW05:50:4627°SSE05:53:4710°Evisible
04 Apr-1.205:03:1820°SE05:03:1820°SE05:05:0810°ESEvisible
04 Apr-3.606:36:1411°SW06:39:3177°SSE06:42:5510°ENEvisible
05 Apr-3.005:50:1336°SSW05:51:1149°SSE05:54:3110°ENEvisible
06 Apr-1.305:04:1623°ESE05:04:1623°ESE05:05:5710°Evisible
06 Apr-3.206:37:1316°WSW06:39:3540°NW06:42:4710°NNEvisible
07 Apr-3.804:51:2469°NNW04:51:2469°NNW04:54:4110°NEvisible
08 Apr-0.904:05:4115°ENE04:05:4115°ENE04:06:2010°ENEvisible
08 Apr-1.905:38:3815°WNW05:39:1915°NW05:41:2510°Nvisible
09 Apr-1.504:53:0316°N04:53:0316°N04:53:5810°NNEvisible
12 Apr-1.119:07:1110°NNE19:07:1110°NNE19:07:1110°NNEvisible

Passes from Melbourne (AEDST/AEST)

Date Brightness Start Highest point End Pass type
(mag) Time Alt. Az. Time Alt. Az. Time Alt. Az.
03 Apr-0.905:49:2410°S05:50:4312°SSE05:52:0610°SEvisible
04 Apr-1.906:36:4610°SSW06:39:4928°SSE06:42:4910°Evisible
05 Apr-1.405:50:1317°S05:51:2220°SSE05:53:5810°ESEvisible
06 Apr-0.405:04:1712°SE05:04:1712°SE05:04:5210°ESEvisible
06 Apr-3.606:37:1314°SW06:40:0575°SE06:43:2810°NEvisible
07 Apr-2.804:51:2441°SSE04:51:4242°SE04:54:5710°ENEvisible
08 Apr-0.404:05:4113°E04:05:4113°E04:06:1210°Evisible
08 Apr-2.905:38:3924°W05:40:0033°NW05:43:0510°NNEvisible
09 Apr-2.404:53:0332°NNE04:53:0332°NNE04:55:0310°NEvisible
10 Apr-1.305:40:3110°NW05:40:3110°NW05:40:3610°NWvisible
11 Apr-0.819:52:5110°NNW19:52:5110°NNW19:52:5110°NNWvisible
12 Apr-2.019:05:1110°N19:07:1218°NE19:07:1218°NEvisible

Passes from Perth (AWST) 

Date Brightness Start Highest point End Pass type
(mag) Time Alt. Az. Time Alt. Az. Time Alt. Az.
03 Apr-0.905:59:0610°S06:00:5213°SSE06:02:3910°ESEvisible
05 Apr-2.105:58:1210°SSW06:01:2033°SE06:04:2710°ENEvisible
06 Apr-1.305:10:1810°SSW05:12:5520°SE05:15:2910°Evisible
07 Apr-0.704:24:2113°SSE04:24:2213°SSE04:25:5910°ESEvisible
07 Apr-3.705:58:0310°SW06:01:2668°NW06:04:4710°NEvisible
08 Apr-3.305:11:3529°SSW05:13:0558°SE05:16:2610°ENEvisible
09 Apr-1.204:26:0022°E04:26:0022°E04:27:4210°ENEvisible
09 Apr-2.105:58:5811°W06:01:1218°NW06:03:3510°Nvisible
10 Apr-2.805:13:2932°NNW05:13:2932°NNW05:16:0110°NNEvisible
11 Apr-2.519:23:4010°NNW19:25:5029°NNE19:25:5029°NNEvisible
12 Apr-2.118:36:0110°N18:38:2619°NE18:40:0913°Evisible
12 Apr-0.920:11:5610°WNW20:13:0518°W20:13:0518°Wvisibl

Passes from Sydney (AEDST/AEST) 

Date Brightness Start Highest point End Pass type
(mag) Time Alt. Az. Time Alt. Az. Time Alt. Az.
04 Apr-1.706:38:3710°SSW06:41:3426°SE06:44:3010°Evisible
05 Apr-1.105:50:4710°SSW05:53:0717°SSE05:55:2710°ESEvisible
06 Apr-0.705:04:1711°SSE05:04:3512°SSE05:05:4910°SEvisible
06 Apr-3.606:38:2310°SW06:41:4881°SE06:45:1110°NEvisible
07 Apr-2.604:51:2319°SSW04:53:2642°SE04:56:4110°ENEvisible
08 Apr-1.404:05:4123°SE04:05:4123°SE04:07:5110°Evisible
08 Apr-2.605:38:4510°WSW05:41:4227°NW05:44:3610°Nvisible
09 Apr-3.704:53:0351°WNW04:53:2454°NW04:56:4210°NNEvisible
10 Apr-1.104:07:3317°NE04:07:3317°NE04:08:2410°NEvisible
11 Apr-1.104:55:0610°NNW04:55:0610°NNW04:55:1010°NNWvisible
11 Apr-0.519:52:4810°NW19:52:5211°NW19:52:5211°NWvisible
12 Apr-3.319:04:2410°NNW19:07:1248°N19:07:1248°Nvisible

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 ISS passing over the Moon or a 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/Tiangong appearing due to orbit changes not picked up by the predictions. Use the most recent prediction for your site.

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