What's in the Sky: International Space Station visible in July

Again, the bright planets are pretty much absent from the evening sky in July. Mars is still visible low in the west. Look for the red planet just to the left of the constellation Leo the Lion. Early in July, Mercury will also be visible, to the right of Mars and lower in the sky. Mercury will be very low, so look right after sunset. Mercury should appear a bit brighter than Mars.

If you are an early riser, you might catch Jupiter and Venus, low in the east before sunrise. They will be quite bright and easy to spot. Jupiter will be very low early in the month, rising higher in the sky as the month goes on. The two planets will grow closer as we see them in the sky. We’ll have a close conjunction of the two in early August.

If you are up that early, you might as well check out Saturn, high in the early morning southern sky. Saturn actually sneaks into the evening sky late in August, rising at about 10:45 p.m. at the end of the month. 

July will be an excellent month to spot the International Space Station (ISS) as it orbits overhead. If you have not seen it, the ISS can be quite impressive, appearing as a bright star, silently zooming across the evening sky. The ISS is illuminated by reflected sunlight. When we are able to see it in the evening, the sun has not yet set at its location, some 200 miles above Earth. From our viewpoint, it will fade and disappear when its orbit carries it into the Earth’s shadow. The best times are when the ISS orbit carries it high above us in the night sky. Some good times to check it out are:

July 5, starting at about 11:55 p.m. The ISS will rise in the west-southwest, zoom high overhead, and disappear in the east northeast just before midnight. 

July 6, about 11:05 p.m. The ISS will rise in the southwest, to the right of the almost full moon. It will zoom overhead, between the bright stars Altair and Vega, and disappear in the east-northeast.

July 7, about 10:15 p.m. A bit earlier! This one will be primarily in the southern sky.  It will start in the southwest, climb above the bright moon, skirt close to the bright star Altair and the small constellation Delphinus, then down in the east-northeastern sky.

July 17, about 11:50 p.m. This one will rise in the west-northwest, pass the outer edge of the Big Dipper’s handle, Cygnus the Swan, leaving the sky in the east-southeast.

To see more options, navigate to the website heavens-above (www.heavens-above.com). Under “configuration” click on “change your observing location.” Under “select location” scroll down, past the map, and look for “enter place to search for.” Enter your location (i.e. “White Salmon” or “The Dalles,” etc.) and select “update.” You could also use the map to get a closer location. Back on the main page, look for “Satellites” and “ISS” under “10-day predictions for satellites of special interest.” You will then see dates and times for viewing the ISS. 

Times might be slightly different than what I show (I’m doing this in mid-June) as satellites orbits vary a bit.  Give it a try!