![]() Some skywatchers can even catch a glimpse of the space station just before sunset or shortly after sunrise.Īnd as a bonus, sunlight glinting directly off the solar panels can sometimes make the space station appear to briefly flare in brilliance. On favorable passes, the station approaches magnitude -5 in brightness, which would rival the planet Venus and is more than 25 times brighter than Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky. Īstronomers measure the brightness of a sky object in terms of magnitude, a reverse scale in which the lower an object's number, the brighter it appears in the sky. Traveling in their respective orbits at approximately 18,000 mph (29,000 kph), both should be visible anywhere for about one to five minutes (depending on the particular viewing pass) as they glide with a steady speed across the sky.īecause of its size and configuration of highly reflective solar panels, the space station is now, by far, the brightest man-made object currently in orbit around the Earth. Your clenched fist held at arm's length measures roughly 10 degrees so on Tuesday expect Endeavour and the station to separated by about "three fists."Ī large telescope would be needed to make out details of the sprawling station. Īnd for all observers in the United States and southern Canada, the separation will have increased to 30 degrees or more by Tuesday morning. That narrow gap between the two will have significantly widened when Endeavour and the space station fly over the western United States, just over 90 minutes later. ![]() As a result, the two spacecraft will appear exceptionally close, separated by only about 7 arc minutes - roughly equal to only about one-quarter the apparent width of the moon.īinoculars will certainly aid in visually separating the two. EDT, only about 10 minutes after Endeavour has begun maneuvering away from the space station. On Monday, Endeavour and the space station will be traveling across North America on southwest-to-northeast trajectories and should appear as a pair of very "bright stars." The space station should appear as the noticeably brighter object and will be trailing Endeavour as they move across the sky.Īcross much of the eastern half of the United States, the two spaceships will fly overhead at around 4:46 a.m. Here's what you can expect to see if you have a clear view of the night sky and good weather: What makes the prospective upcoming passages so interesting is that you'll be able to see the two largest orbiting space vehicles in the sky at the same time.Īfter it undocks from the International Space Station Sunday, on Monday morning, Endeavour should still be visible at a relatively close distance to the space station until its scheduled return to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida early Wednesday morning. This usually means shortly after dusk or before dawn. Satellites become visible only when they are in sunlight and the observer is in deep twilight or darkness. On any clear night within a couple of hours of local sunset or sunrise and with no optical aid, you can usually spot several orbiting Earth satellites creeping across the sky like moving stars. The appearance of either the space shuttle or the space station moving across the sky is not in itself unusual. Endeavour and its six-astronaut crew are due to return to Earth Wednesday June 1. The shuttle launched into space from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on May 16. IN PICTURES: Space Shuttle Endeavour missionsĮndeavour is in the homestretch of its last mission, a 16-day trip to upgrade and resupply the space station. Considering that after this shuttle mission there will be only be one left before the program ends (tentatively set for July 8), the view of a shuttle and the space station flying together will soon be a sight that will pass into history. The sight should easily be visible to anyone, even from brightly lit cities. Weather permitting, there should be opportunities to see both the Endeavour and space station flying across the sky from many locations. ![]() The best time to look for Endeavour and the space station will be before sunrise on Tuesday (May 31). With NASA's space shuttle Endeavour undocked from the International Space Station late Sunday, skywatchers across much of the United States and southern Canada are in for a real treat: They'll have one last chance to see Endeavour in the night sky before the shuttle retires for good. ![]()
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