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(Photo: NASA)
By Chuck McPartlin
Santa Barbara’s evening skies for the first half of June will feature numerous visible passes by the International Space Station, weather permitting. I’ll just list the brightest and highest events here, but to find all of the visible passes and get the most recent predictions, visit Heavens Above.
On Sunday, June 3, the ISS will rise at 10:33 PM PDT in the NNW, and pass low over our mountains to vanish in the Earth’s shadow at 10:35 PM in the NNE in the constellation Cepheus.
On Monday, it will rise at 9:42 PM in the N, pass low over the mountains and close to Deneb, the star marking the tail of Cygnus, the Swan, before disappearing at 9:45 PM in the ENE.
Tuesday’s bright pass will pop up at 10:25 PM in the NW, and climb toward the bowl of the Little Dipper, but will fade out at 10:27 PM in the NNW before reaching it.
On Wednesday, the station will appear in the NNW at 9:33 PM, near the bright star Capella, cruise over the mountains past the bright star Vega, and enter shadow at 9:37 PM in the ENE.
There will be two bright passes on Thursday, with the first being a longer and lower repeat of Wednesday’s trajectory, starting at 8:41 PM in the NNW and ending at 8:45 PM in the ENE. The ISS will return on its next orbit at 10:17 PM in the WNW between Castor and Pollux, the heads of Gemini, climb through the Sickle of Leo, and fade out in Leo’s belly at 10:19 PM in the WSW.
Friday’s pass will be the brightest and highest of this series, rising in the NW at 9:24 PM, sailing high to trace the length of the Big Dipper, through the ice cream cone of Bo ötes, the Herdsman, and set in Ophiuchus, the Serpent Bearer, in the SE at 9:29 PM.
On Saturday, June 9, we will again get two passes, with the first starting at 8:32 PM in the NNW, going below Polaris and through the head of Draco to set in the ESE at 8:38 PM in Ophiuchus. Then it will rise again at 10:09 PM in the W below bright Venus, pass along half the length of dim Hydra, the Sea Snake, the largest constellation, and fade into shadow in the SW at 10:11 PM as it reaches dim Crater, the Cup, perched on Hydra’s back.
On Sunday, the station follow a higher version of Saturday’s second pass, appearing in the WNW at 9:16 PM, passing just below Venus and just above the entire length of Hydra to set in the S at 9:21 PM in Centaurus.
The final pass of this sequence will be on Tuesday, June 12, and be a very low copy of Sunday’s pass, rising at 9:09 PM in the W, sailing along our ocean horizon, and setting in the SSW at 9:12 PM.
