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By Chuck McPartlin
The International Space Station will have some nice visible evening passes through Santa Barbara skies to close out Summer. Its orbit can change a little, so to get the latest predictions, visit Heavens Above.
On Monday, September 16, the ISS will rise in the S over the ocean at 8:05 PM PDT and make short low pass under Saturn, fading out in the SSE at 8:06 PM.
On Tuesday it will pop up briefly in the SW at 8:52 PM near the head of Scorpius, and climb into Serpens Caput, the head of the snake held by Ophiuchus, where it will disappear into the Earth’s shadow at 8:54 PM.
Wednesday’s pass will be the brightest of this sequence, starting at 8:03 PM in the SW, passing by orange Antares, Jupiter, bluish Altair, along the belly of Pegasus, and then vanishing in the ENE in Andromeda, near the faint fuzz of the Andromeda Galaxy.
On Thursday, the station will appear at 8:51 PM in the W and head for our mountains, passing orange Arcturus, tracing the handle of the Big Dipper, and fading out midway along the line from the pointer stars to Polaris at 8:55 PM in the NNW.
Friday’s pass will rise in the WSW at 8:02 PM, cruise by Arcturus and between the dippers, and set in the NNE at 8:08 PM in Perseus.
Saturday, September 21, will have a low, dim pass which will originate at 8:52 PM in the NW and pass below the Big Dipper asterism, ending in the N at 8:54 PM.
On Sunday, the ISS will rise at 8:02 PM in the WNW and trace a lower version of Friday’s pass, fading away in the N at 8:06 PM after crossing the bowl of the Big Dipper.
Our last evening pass of September will start at 7:12 PM in the W and be a slightly higher version of Sunday’s pass, ending at 7:18 PM in the NNE. See whether you can spot bright Venus and dimmer Mercury low in the W as the station appears
