International Space Station to fly over next three nights

Photo of the International Space Station taken last year in Sedona, Ariz., by atbaker / CC BY 2.0.

If you happened to be outside last night at 9:20, odds are your eye was caught by an unusually bright, slow moving object in the south-western sky.

It was clearly not a plane, and much larger than a common satellite. It was the International Space Station.

If you missed it, you’re in luck. It will pass over the Lawrence area three more times before its orbit takes it out of our night sky.

Here’s when and where to look:

April 29

Rise time: 9:44:37 p.m.
Direction to look: West/south-west
Transit time: 9:46:58 p.m.
Maximum elevation: 41°
Brightness: Very bright (-3.0)

April 30

Rise time: 8:34:33 p.m.
Direction to look: South/south-west
Transit time: 8:36:58 p.m.
Maximum elevation: 57°
Brightness: Very bright (-3.6)

May 1

Rise time: 8:59:54 p.m.
Direction to look: West
Transit time: 9:02:13 p.m.
Maximum elevation: 38°
Brightness: Very bright (-2.8)

This tracking information for the International Space Station (ISS) — as well as for many other man-made orbiting objects — is always available for any zip code at spaceweather.com. Pretty cool, huh?

Thanks for the tip, Shelby!

Excellent viewing spots

The roof of The Oread hotel

The Clinton Lake dam