Spot the International Space Station

The International Space Station is certainly the largest and and most visible satellite to see in the night sky. Spotting it is easy when you know where and when to look for it - even from skies with lots of light pollution.

Want to know how to see the space station? There lots of helpers out there. My current favorite is CalSky.  I have set it up to give me email alerts for the space station, iridium flares and other cool things that are visible from my own back yard. Another site that you can configure for you own location is Heavens Above.  I know that there are apps for mobile devices that will also do the trick, but I haven't explored that too closely.

Here's how the station looked earlier this evening from Tucson, Arizona:

Canon T3i, 20 seconds, f/5.6, ISO 1600

The space station is the streak of light. The bright spot beneath it (and to the right) is Jupiter. The stars of Orion are in the lower left hand portion of the image.

This shot was taken just a bit earlier: