The International Space Station will be passing right over London next Thursday (22nd July) and will be both exceptionally bright and at a decent time to see it.
The flypast is just after 9pm, and what you need to do is find a local park or area with minimal street lights, or be above the height of the streetlights, and face towards the west.
Get used to the twilight and watch for a bright star that rises up over the horizon coming directly towards you. It can be a bit difficult to spot initially, but once you see it, it really jumps out as something very noticeable in the sky.
A bright star flying in a straight line heading eastwards.
The space station should start to become visible from about 9:13pm and will be directly overhead at 9:18pm.
The reason it will be brighter than usual is thanks to flying over London just after sunset, and the sun over the horizon will reflect off the metal spaceship making it shine in the night sky.
If you miss it, flypasts will also take place on the following dates but will be slightly dimmer.
- 23rd July – starts at 10:03pm
- 24th July – starts at 9:15pm
- 25th July – starts at 10:04pm
The perfect accompaniment to a glass of something wet and cold whilst standing in the darkest, most open-skyed area locally available in the cool of the evening air ~ a spot of ISS spotting, thank you.
Can we see the ISS up here in Edinburgh?????
Check on the n2yo website for local viewing details as I only cover the London area.
Am I looking at the wrong thing on the NASA website? I see the time that it will be visible at 10:51pm? Sorry for the daft question.
https://spotthestation.nasa.gov/sightings/view.cfm?country=United_Kingdom®ion=England&city=London
I think you’re right. I have just dragged my family into the park and we saw nowt.
I saw it over Charlton SE7. Would be interesting to see if anything can be seen at 10:51. Mind you, I saw three satellites in rapid succession around the same time yesterday, going in the same direction, directly overhead. Lot of activity up there! 🙂
Well, I don’t know what I saw earlier, as something very bright went over just after 10:51, which must have been the ISS