Weather permitting, the International Space Station will be making a few visible evening passes across Santa Barbara’s skies during the next week. Its orbit may change, and as usual, I’ve only listed the best evening events. To get the latest and most complete predictions, visit Heavens Above.
On Tuesday, January 27, the ISS will make a bright pop-up in the NW to NNW, starting at 7:05 PM PST in Cygnus, and vanishing into our shadow in Cepheus two minutes later at an altitude of 32 degrees.
Wednesday’s pass will rise at 6:17 PM in the NNW in Draco, pass through the middle of Ursa Minor, then by Castor and Pollux, the heads of Gemini, and fade out at 6:21 PM in the E below bright Jupiter. With binoculars or a small telescope, see whether you can spot three of the four Galilean moons of Jupiter, with Europa on one side and Ganymede and Callisto on the other. Io will be transiting the disk of Jupiter. Jupiter is up to 97 known moons.
On Thursday the station will appear in the WNW at 7:05 PM, cruise across the Great Square asterism in Pegasus, through dim Pisces and Cetus to splash into Eridanus, the River, in the S at 7:09 PM.
Friday’s pass will be the best and brightest, going high overhead from NW horizon to SE horizon, from Cygnus at 6:17 PM, to right by the Andromeda Galaxy, through the legs of Taurus, near bright Rigel, a foot of Orion, and ending in Canis Major at 6:24 PM.
On Sunday, February 1, the ISS will make a low farewell pass starting in the WNW at 6:18 PM by Enif, the nose of Pegasus, going below Saturn and Deneb Kaitos, and ending at 6:23 PM in the S in Fornax, the Furnace.
The ISS will then transition into our predawn skies, returning to evening appearances in March.
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