
Tim Peake sees the city lights of his capital city burning bright from the International Space Station last night. He tweeted: “London midnight Saturday – I’d rather be up here…but only just!!”
Tim Peake sees the city lights of his capital city burning bright from the International Space Station last night. He tweeted: “London midnight Saturday – I’d rather be up here…but only just!!”
Urban dwellers may resign themselves to spotting the Moon, planets and the brightest stars with the unaided eye on a clear night, but every so often a bright satellite will catch your attention as it glides silently across the sky. The brightest is the 400-tonne International Space Station (ISS) whose orbit carries it directly overhead as seen from the British Isles and parts of Western Europe tonight.
The serene beauty of the International Space Station sailing silently overhead needs nothing more than the naked eye to appreciate. But when the dazzling ISS is also in conjunction with a pair of prominent Solar System bodies — such at the Moon and Saturn on the night of 2 August 2017 in the UK — you may wish to grab your binoculars and look low in the south-southwest just before 11:20pm BST.
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