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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
Entertainment
Gemma Jaleel

Children can see Santa flying over Liverpool's skies this week

Look up at the sky this week and the kids might just catch a glimpse of Santa and his reindeers flying across Liverpool - or that's what you can tell them.

What you will actually see, if the weather's not too cloudy, is the International Space Station (ISS) but you can spread a bit festive cheer by telling your little ones it's the man in red, Father Christmas himself.

The ISS, which is Earth’s only microgravity laboratory, can be seen by the naked eye so no need for a telescope and is visible because it reflects the light of the sun – the same reason we can see the moon.

The space station circles the planet once every 90 minutes and must be 40 degrees or more above the horizon for it to be visible.

When you look up at the sky it will look like a tiny dot like an aeroplane or bright star moving across the sky from the ground except it doesn’t have flashing lights or change direction.

Despite appearing so small, it is actually the size of a football field.

There are two chances to spot the station before Christmas as it travels along at a whopping 17,500 miles per hour.

When will it pass over Liverpool?

It will be visible on Friday, December 13 at 4.38pm for less than a minute. It will also be visible at 7.44am on Friday, December 20.

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