The reappearance of the International Space Station in Britain's evening sky gives us opportunities to compare it with the brightest planets, Venus and Jupiter, and the brightest star Sirius. Our predictions give the transit times for the ISS as seen from London and Manchester, with asterisks flagging the directions in which it disappears into the Earth's shadow as it tracks eastwards.
Sirius, magnitude -1.5 on the astronomers' brightness scale, twinkles in the lower SE sky at these times. Jupiter, twice as bright at magnitude -2.2, stands in our mid-SW sky, above and left of the brilliant magnitude -4.2 of Venus. The ISS may surpass Jupiter on its higher transits, but will it rival Venus?
ISS from London Day From To Highest Rises ⁄ Feb deg in sets
18 18:07 18:12 41 SSE SW/E*
18 19:42 19:44 37 W* W/W*
19 18:46 18:50 79 SSE WSW/E*
20 19:25 19:28 74 WNW* W/WNW*
21 18:28 18:34 89 N W/E*
22 19:08 19:11 89 S W/E*
23 18:11 18:17 85 N W/E*
23 19:47 19:49 39 WSW*W/WSW*
24 18:50 18:55 75 S W/ESE*
25 19:30 19:33 37 SSW W/SSW*
26 18:33 18:38 56 SSW W/ESE*
ISS from Manchester Day From To Highest Rises/ Feb deg in sets
18 18:07 18:12 26 SSE SSW/E
18 19:42 19:44 41 SW* WSW/SW*
19 18:46 18:50 48 SSE WSW/ESE*
20 19:25 19:28 62 S W/SSE
21 18:28 18:34 58 S WSW/E*
22 19:07 19:11 60 S W/ESE
23 18:11 18:17 62 S W/E
23 19:47 19:49 38 SW* W/SW*
24 18:50 18:55 52 S W/ESE*
25 19:29 19:33 29 SSW W/S*
26 18:32 18:38 41 SSW W/SE*