Spring ISS

Photo: NASA

By Chuck McPartlin

The International Space Station will be making some bright visible evening passes through Santa Barbara’s skies to usher in Springtime, if the weather cooperates. You can always find the latest predictions, including early morning appearances, at Heavens-Above.

On Tuesday, March 19, the ISS will rise at 8:13 PM in the SSW below Orion, then cruise below Canis Major heading toward the Moon, but will disappear in the Earth’s shadow in the ESE at 8:16 PM just after passing reddish Alphard, the heart of Hydra the Sea Serpent.

Wednesday at 2:58 PM is the Vernal Equinox, the official start of Spring for the Northern Hemisphere, as the apparent motion of the Sun takes it from South to North across the projection of the Earth’s equator in the sky. That evening, the station will appear in the WSW at 8:58 PM in Eridanus, the River, and sail close by the red spark of Mars before vanishing in the NW at 9:01 PM, just after passing bright Mirfak in Perseus.

Thursday’s pass will be the best and brightest, starting at 8:07 PM in the SW in Eridanus, and going directly overhead, passing between Orion and Taurus, then between Gemini and Auriga, then along the bottom of the bowl of the Big Dipper and along its handle to set in the NE at 8:13 PM.

On Friday, March 22, the ISS will rise at 8:53 PM in the WNW, and pass low over our mountain horizon, from Aries to Cassiopeia and dim Cepheus, setting in Draco in the N at 8:58 PM.

Saturday’s path will be a little higher, but otherwise similar, starting at 8:02 PM in the W, and ending in the NNE at 8:07 PM.

The last pass of this sequence will be on Monday, when the ISS will mimic Friday’s pass low over our mountains, from the WNW at 7:57 PM to the N at 8:01 PM.

If you’ve ever heard that March comes in like a Lion, and goes out like a Lamb, it’s not just a reference to the weather. Dim Aries, the Ram, is setting in the West, and Leo, the Lion, is rising in the East.

Hasta nebula – Chuck