HOW TO SPOT THE INTERNATIONAL

The International Space Station can be seen from Earth; You just need to know where and when to look

- Daisy Dobrijevic and Mathew Browne

TIME ON THE ISS

The ISS completes an orbit in 90 minutes, so how do astronauts keep track of time? The ISS uses Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). It was selected as the time zone for the ISS because it’s around the mid-point for all ISS partners.

The International Space Station (ISS) is a multinational laboratory orbiting 400 kilometres (248 miles) above our heads. It perhaps comes as no surprise that the ISS can easily be seen from Earth. The colossal structure reflects sunlight and appears as a bright, white pinpoint of light in the sky – typically the brightest object in the sky except for the Moon – and can even be spotted from the middle of a city. The ISS is therefore a great skywatching and astrophotography target for those living in urban and rural areas alike. Spotting the ISS requires no specialist equipment as it can be seen with the naked eye. All you need to know is where to look and when.

“The International Space Station’s trajectory passes over more than 90 per cent of Earth’s population,” says NASA. The ISS zips around the Earth at an average speed of 28,000 kilometres (17,500 miles) per hour, completing 16 orbits per day. As the ISS orbits with an inclination of 51.6 degrees, if you live beyond 51.6 degrees north or south of the equator the ISS will never appear directly overhead. The ISS is only visible because it reflects sunlight. It isn’t bright enough to be seen in the middle of the day, and the best time to view the ISS is either at dawn or dusk. Viewing opportunities of the ISS can vary between one sighting a month to several a week, depending on your location and the orbit of the ISS.