A Great Evening Sky for 1 December 2008

At around 5.30-5.45pm tonight (1 Dec) take a look into the south-western evening skies and you'll see a great grouping of three objects: the thin crescent Moon, with bright Venus close to its lower-right and Jupiter a short distance up to the right.




You'll also have another chance to see the International Space Station as a bright, slow moving point of light across the sky at the following times:

Date	Appears			Max Height			Vanishes
	Time	Alt.	Az.	Time	Alt.	Az.	Time	Alt.	Az.
1 Dec	17:16	10	W	17:19	81	N	17:21	25	E

Alt is Altitude in degrees above the horizon. 0 degrees is the horizon up to 90 degrees which is the point directly above your head.
Az is Azimuth (basically the compass bearing).
As ever, the actual times will vary (up to a few minutes) depending on your location.

Starry Skies,

Anton
[Captain Cosmos]
www.vamplew.co.uk

UK International Space Station viewing details for 30 November 2008

Tonight you'll have another chance to see the International Space Station as a bright, slow moving point of light across the sky at the following times:

Date	Appears			Max Height			Vanishes
	Time	Alt.	Az.	Time	Alt.	Az.	Time	Alt.	Az.
30 Nov	16:51	10	W	16:54	87	N	16:57	13	E

Alt is Altitude in degrees above the horizon. 0 degrees is the horizon up to 90 degrees which is the point directly above your head.
Az is Azimuth (basically the compass bearing).
As ever, the actual times will vary (up to a few minutes) depending on your location.

UK International Space Station viewing details for 29 November 2008

Tonight you'll have another chance to see the International Space Station as a bright, slow moving point of light across the sky at the following times:

Date	Appears			Max Height			Vanishes
	Time	Alt.	Az.	Time	Alt.	Az.	Time	Alt.	Az.
29 Nov	17:57	10	W	18:00	80	NNW	18:00	80	NNW

Note: The ISS will disappear whilst almost overhead

Alt is Altitude in degrees above the horizon. 0 degrees is the horizon up to 90 degrees which is the point directly above your head.
Az is Azimuth (basically the compass bearing).
As ever, the actual times will vary (up to a few minutes) depending on your location.

UK International Space Station viewing details for 28 November 2008

Tonight you'll be able to see the International Space Station as a bright, slow moving point of light across the sky at the following times:

Date	Appears			Max Height			Vanishes
	Time	Alt.	Az.	Time	Alt.	Az.	Time	Alt.	Az.
28 Nov	17:30	10	W	17:33	89	S	17:34	35	E

Alt is Altitude in degrees above the horizon. 0 degrees is the horizon up to 90 degrees which is the point directly above your head.
Az is Azimuth (basically the compass bearing).
As ever, the actual times will vary (up to a few minutes) depending on your location.

UK International Space Station viewing details for 27 November 2008

Tonight you'll be able to see the International Space Station as a bright, slow moving point of light across the sky at the following times:

Date	Appears			Max Height			Vanishes
	Time	Alt.	Az.	Time	Alt.	Az.	Time	Alt.	Az.
27 Nov	17:03	10	WSW	17:06	56	SSE	17:08	15	E

Alt is Altitude in degrees above the horizon. 0 degrees is the horizon up to 90 degrees which is the point directly above your head.
Az is Azimuth (basically the compass bearing).
As ever, the actual times will vary (up to a few minutes) depending on your location.

UK International Space Station viewing details for 26 November 2008

Tonight you'll be able to see the International Space Station as a bright, slow moving point of light across the sky at the following times:

Date	Appears			Max Height			Vanishes
	Time	Alt.	Az.	Time	Alt.	Az.	Time	Alt.	Az.
26 Nov	16:33	10	SSW	16:35	26	SSE	16:38	10	E
26 Nov	18:07	10	WSW	18:10	64	WSW	18:10	64	WSW

Alt is Altitude in degrees above the horizon. 0 degrees is the horizon up to 90 degrees which is the point directly above your head.
Az is Azimuth (basically the compass bearing).
As ever, the actual times will vary (up to a few minutes) depending on your location.

UK International Space Station viewing details for 25 November 2008

Tonight you'll be able to see the International Space Station as a bright, slow moving point of light across the sky at the following times:

Date	Appears			Max Height			Vanishes
	Time	Alt.	Az.	Time	Alt.	Az.	Time	Alt.	Az.
25 Nov	17:41	10	SW	17:44	49	SSE	17:45	17	ESE

Alt is Altitude in degrees above the horizon. 0 degrees is the horizon up to 90 degrees which is the point directly above your head.
Az is Azimuth (basically the compass bearing).
As ever, the actual times will vary (up to a few minutes) depending on your location.

UK International Space Station viewing details for 24 November 2008

Tonight you'll be able to see the International Space Station as a bright, slow moving point of light across the sky at the following times:

Date	Appears			Max Height			Vanishes
	Time	Alt.	Az.	Time	Alt.	Az.	Time	Alt.	Az.
24 Nov	17:16	10	SSW	17:18	27	SSE	17:20	17	ESE

Alt is Altitude in degrees above the horizon. 0 degrees is the horizon up to 90 degrees which is the point directly above your head.
Az is Azimuth (basically the compass bearing).
As ever, the actual times will vary (up to a few minutes) depending on your location.

UK International Space Station viewing details for 23 November 2008

Date	Appears			Max Height			Vanishes
	Time	Alt.	Az.	Time	Alt.	Az.	Time	Alt.	Az.
23 Nov	18:25	10	SW	18:26	27	SW	18:27	27	SW

Alt is Altitude in degrees above the horizon. 0 degrees is the horizon up to 90 degrees which is the point directly above your head.
Az is Azimuth (basically the compass bearing).
As ever, the actual times will vary (up to a few minutes) depending on your location.

Shooting Stars on Nov 16: The Leonids

Late tonight (Nov 16) and into the early hours of the tomorrow morning is the best time to see the peak of this year's Leonid meteor shower. The name comes from the constellation from which the Shooting Stars, or meteors, appear; in this case, Leo, the Lion.

So, from 10:30pm(ish) you should begin to see the odd streak of light across the sky appearing anywhere in the sky zooming in an east to west direction.

With clear, dark skies and good horizons the latest estimates suggest up to 150 shooting stars (that's right!) per hour may appear during the maximum which is just after midnight as the 16th becomes the 17th.

Unfortunately the gibbous Moon will be a natural light-polluting nuisance by washing out the light of the fainter meteors over the entire time, but you'll still be able to catch the brighter ones.

Shooting Stars tonight

Tonight (Nov 5) and this weekend are the best times to see the various peaks of the Guyfawkids meteor shower.

Unlike most meteor showers, when your best chance of seeing meteors is close to midnight, the Guyfawkids appear as soon as it is dark. It is also the only shower that have eye witness accounts of sounds associated with each of the fast moving "shooting stars".

With clear skies and good horizons some displays have been known to tally many thousands over the course of maybe just half an hour, so it is well worth looking out for them.

The meteors also vary tremendously in appearance. Some explode into a shower of colour (much like a firework rocket would) whilst others send seem to be part of a cluster of sequential coloured fireballs. It's all just unbelievable.

A bright thing next to the Moon tonight: 4 November 2008

Around 7pm tonight (4 Nov) take a wander outside and gaze into the night sky. Have a look for the crescent Moon which will be sitting above the south-western horizon. Just to the right of the Moon is a particularly bright star - that is actually the planet Jupiter.

If you have a handy pair of binoculars then peering at this planet will reveal up to four tiny points of light close by. These are the four main moons of Jupiter: Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto.

Don't worry if it's cloudy as Jupiter will be around for a good few more weeks in this part of the sky. The Moon, however, will continue its journey around the Earth and will move off to the left day by day.

UK International Space Station viewing details for the morning of 4 November 2008

Date	Appears			Max Height			Vanishes
	Time	Alt.	Az.	Time	Alt.	Az.	Time	Alt.	Az.
4 Nov	06:18	10	W	06:21	40	SSW	06:24	10	SE

NOTE: THESE ARE MORNING TIMINGS. THE ISS IS NOT CURRENTLY VISIBLE IN THE EVENING SKIES.

Alt is Altitude in degrees above the horizon. 0 degrees is the horizon up to 90 degrees which is the point directly above your head.
Az is Azimuth (basically the compass bearing).
As ever, the actual times will vary (up to a few minutes) depending on your location.

Currently on board are the crew of Expedition 18. Why not give them a wave as they fly over?