The International Space Station (ISS) will be visible in the night sky tonight, making a long duration pass above our area. The longest the ISS will fly over our area is about 7 minutes, so at 6 minutes tonight this is a long duration pass. It won't be ultra high in the sky, so it would be best to view this one away from any tall trees that may be near your house.
We start by looking at the sky conditions. If it isn't clear, then you don't get a chance to view this. Looking at the data, we see skies clearing out overnight as we move deeper away from the heat of the afternoon. The pass occurs at 9:50 pm and you can see the clouds have melted away.
Since we are going to have clear skies, this gives us the chance. How to we view it? We will be looking toward the WNW portion of the sky to start. The ISS will climb to about 1/3 of the way up the sky, so this is not an overhead pass. It will be moving from the WNW to the SSE and you have a full 6 minutes to view it!
It is always fun to view the International Space Station fly overhead. It is especially fun on a brilliant late May night like tonight. Grab the kids and head outside some fun viewing the night sky!
