macpuzl
By Chuck McPartlin
The International Space Station will once again be visible in Santa Barbara’s evening skies, assuming we get a break in the clouds. China’s first space station, the Tiangong-1 will be showing in the early morning skies, but not for long – it’s predicted to enter our atmosphere and burn up around April 4, plus or minus a week. See it while you’ve got the chance, and maybe you’ll even get a great light show! To get the most recent predictions, visit Heavens Above.
On Wednesday, March 21, the ISS will make a brief appearance over our ocean horizon, popping up briefly at 8:24 PM just below the brightest star in the sky, Sirius, which you can find by following Orion’s belt down and left. Can you also spot Canopus, the second brightest star, just above the horizon below Sirius? The ISS will vanish by 8:25 PM.
On Thursday, the station will do another brief hop up from the horizon, rising at 9:07 PM in the WSW, and climbing up to disappear to the right of Orion’s bright foot, Rigel, by 9:09 PM.
Friday’s pass will be the best of this sequence, appearing in the SW at 8:15 PM, passing right next to Sirius, then below Procyon in Canis Minor, through the Sickle asterism defining the head of Leo, and fading away in the ENE at 8:20 PM below the curved tail of the Great Bear, the handle of the Big Dipper asterism.
On Saturday, March 24, the ISS will rise at 9 PM in the W, and pass low over our mountains to vanish in the N below Polaris at 9:04 PM.
Sunday’s pass will rise at 8:07 PM in the WSW, pass to the right of the Pleiades star cluster, cruise by bright Mirfak in Perseus, and past the bowl of the Little Dipper in the NE, setting at 8:13 PM.
A very low pass over our mountains will occur on Monday, March 26, starting at 8:53 PM in the WNW, and setting in the N at 8:56 PM.
Tuesday’s pass will be a slightly higher version of Monday’s, rising in the W near brilliant Venus at 8 PM, and setting in the NNE at 8:05 PM.
The ISS will reappear on Thursday, March 29, at 7:54 PM, for another very low mountain horizon skimming pass, setting in the N at 7:56 PM.
Tiangong-1 was China’s first space station, much smaller than the ISS, and they seem to have lost control of it sometime after mid-December in 2015. Since then, it has gradually been losing altitude from friction with the sparse atmosphere it encounters. It is predicted to make an uncontrolled reentry and burn up in the atmosphere sometime between March 28 and April 11. That’ll most likely happen somewhere over an ocean, but will be a spectacular sight if you’re in the neighborhood. You can find information about its re-entry at the CORDS website.
Here are the current predictions for its visibility in our morning sky. Be aware that it is much dimmer than the ISS, and will look like a small dim moving star. And if you’re up in the predawn hours, catch the bright lineup of Jupiter, Mars, and Saturn from west to east in the south.
Tuesday, March 27, appearing low in the S at 6:06 AM, and vanishing at 6:08 AM in the ESE.
Wednesday, March 28, 5:44 AM to 5:46 AM, low SSE to ESE.
Thursday, March 29, 5:22 AM brief ESE to E.
Saturday, March 31, brightest of the series, slightly brighter than Polaris, 6:04 AM to 6:07 AM WNW to NE.
Sunday, April 1, 5:40 AM to 5:41 AM, NNW to NNE.
Monday, April 2, 5:14 AM to 5:15 AM, in the NNE.
Saturday, April 7, 5:56 AM to 5:58 AM, NNW to NE.
These Tiangong-1 pass descriptions are rather cryptic, so you can find star maps for the passes you want to attempt at the Heavens-Above website. The predictions for Tiangong-1 are also very uncertain, so your best bet is to check the site before going out to look.
Hasta nebula
