Menu Bar

Home           Calendar           Topics          Just Charlestown          About Us

Saturday, September 18, 2021

VIDEO: Good conditions for Space Station 7 minute overflight of Charlestown

"Partly cloudy" forecast for ISS at 7:28 PM 
By Will Collette

The National Weather Service says that today's sunny weather will lead to a partly cloudy night tonight. 

That's good news for watching
the International Space Station (ISS) float from horizon to horizon over Charlestown for seven minutes at 7:28 PM.

A seven-minute overflight is the maximum for these overflights, arcing over almost the entire sky. Each end of tonight's overflight happens at only 10 degrees over the horizon. There should be enough breaks in the clouds for you to see it.

I love these overflights and the soothing feeling they produce in the midst of all our troubles in ways that Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos or Richard Branson can never dream to do.

At precisely 7:28 PM, the ISS will suddenly appear in the southwest 10 degrees above the horizon as the light from the sun, set beyond the horizon, catches it.

It will arc overhead to a peak of 67 degrees and then disappear in the east northeast seven minutes later as it losses the reflected glow of the sun.

National Weather Service prediction is here. 

Here's the message I received from NASA this morning, courtesy of their "Spot The Station" e-mail listserve:
Time: Sat Sep 18 7:28 PM, Visible: 7 min, Max Height: 67°, Appears: 10° above SW, Disappears: 10° above ENE
Celestial mechanics makes the ISS strictly follow these specifications.