The International Space Station orbits the Earth at a height of between 330 and 410 kilometres. Even though this might seem far away, you can actually see it from Earth with your bare eyes on a clear night. When visible, the ISS looks almost like a wandering star, moving through the sky. The best time to see it is either just after sunset or just before sunrise. At this time we as observers are in the shadow of the Earth and it is dark around us, while the ISS, flying at a high altitude, is still illuminated by the sun.

Even though the ISS always follows the same orbit when travelling around the Earth, the ISS does not pass the same places on Earth every time. This is because the Earth also rotates around its own axis once every 24 hours. Every time the ISS reaches the same point in its orbit, the Earth has rotated and a new place will be underneath the Space Station.

 

You can find out where the ISS is right now using one of several tracking websites, including:

See the ISS

To find out when the ISS is visible from where you live, try entering your location in one of the following websites:

Twitter and smartphones

If you have a Twitter account, with @twisst you can sign up to receive an alert when the ISS is going to be visible from your location.

There are also smartphone apps available with ISS tracking data, including ISS Tracker, ISS Visibility, and for Android: iss4u.

And, if you do venture outdoors to watch the ISS passing overhead – don’t forget to wave – you never know, someone might be waving down at you…

André waving from Cupola

André waving from Cupola