Space Station cruises over Charlestown tonight for six minutes under ideal conditions

At 5:10 PM, look just above the horizon in the west

By Will Collette

If you pay attention, there's lots going on in the sky on most nights. And in Charlestown we do have the benefit of few intrusions from the lights of civilization.

One of my favorite things to see are the passages of the International Space Station (ISS) flying town reasonably often to make 

it easy but not so often to make it trite. The ISS is perhaps one of the most prominent, enduring international efforts. Plus I still think it's cool to.

At exactly 5:10 PM, the ISS will pop into sight 10 degrees above the west northwest horizon. It will silently rise to a maximum height of 48 degrees over the horizon and then will just vanish at 12 degrees about the horizon in the northeast.

The National Weather Service forecasts clear sky but a temp of only 25 degrees. 

Six minutes. That's just shy of the maximum length of an overflight. Not all overflights go horizon-to-horizon like this since they are dependent on reflected sunlight to show themselves to us on the ground.

Here is the exact notice I received this morning from NASA:

Time: Tue Nov 23 5:10 PM, Visible: 6 min, Max Height: 48°, Appears: 10° above WSW, Disappears: 12° above NE 

You can enroll for free membership in NASA's listserve for emails on overflights of the International Space Station. You can sign up to get those e-mails here.