macpuzl
Weather permitting, the International Space Station will be making some nicely visible evening and early morning passes across Santa Barbara’s skies in early May. Its orbit may change, and I’ve only listed the best evening events, so to get the latest and most complete predictions, visit Heavens Above <https://www.heavens-above.com
On Wednesday, May 7, the station will appear at 8:52 PM PDT in the S, and pass low below the length of Hydra, the Sea Snake, the largest constellation, disappearing at 8:54 PM in the SE.
Thursday will have a bright pass rising at 9:40 PM in the WSW, passing by Procyon, Mars, and through the nose of Ursa Major and by the bowl of the Little Dipper, setting in the NE at 9:46 PM.
Friday’s pass will be the best and brightest of this sequence, starting in the SW at 8:52 PM in the tail of Canis Major, past dim red Alphard, the heart of Hydra, by Zosma, in the hip of Leo, then near the end of the handle of the Big Dipper, and end in the NE at 8:59 PM near rising Vega.
On Saturday, near the end of the SBMNH Monthly Public Star Party, the ISS will rise at 9:42 PM in the W below the feet of Gemini, go above bright Jupiter, by bright yellow Capella, and set by rising Deneb in the NNE at 9:47 PM.
Sunday’s pass will begin in the WSW at 8:53 PM, and follow a similar, but higher trajectory, ending at 9 PM in the NNE.
The station will return to our evening skies in the third week of May.
Predicted to occur between May 8 and May 11 is the re-entry of Cosmos 482, a failed Venera spacecraft launched in 1972 by the Soviet Union that was intended to land on Venus. The decay of its orbit has been accelerated by the current solar maximum, and it could come down anywhere between latitude 52 degrees north and 52 degrees south. Chances are it will not hit a populated landmass, but the lander was built to survive the dense atmosphere of Venus, so large chunks of it may survive to impact. Break out your kevlar umbrellas, just in case, and check Heavens Above for updates.
Hasta nebula – Chuck
Looks like the Cosmos/Venera lander may come down somewhere in a 6 hour window centered on
11 PM PDT tonight. Updates here:
https://aerospace.org/reentries/6073
The ISS orbit has changed, so hit Heavens-Above for the latest.
It’s down. Possibly in the Indian Ocean:
https://apnews.com/article/soviet-venus-spacecraft-kosmos-482-93871c98ca9c09a67219e238ed3e2eaa