Sunday evening will be a lucky day for the star watchers in the State. They can see the International Space Station (ISS) moving across the sky above their heads.
The ISS will move across the sky from north to south between 7.21 p.m. and 7.28 p.m..
“It will be like a moving star,” said Unnikrishnan Mangalassery, joint convener of the Malappuram Amateur Astronomers Society (MAAS).
The ISS, whose astronauts Oleg Skripochka (Russia), Andrew Morgan and Jessica Meir (USA) set to return to earth on April 17, will emerge 10 degree from the northern horizon and disappear 12 degree into the southern horizon.
Elevation
According to MAAS, the maximum elevation will be 67 degree from the western horizon.
The ISS, which is 73 metres long and 109 metres wide, was launched in 1998. It circles the earth in every 92 minutes and does 15.5 orbits a day at an altitude of 400 km. Three new astronauts will replace the trio when they leave for earth.
Mr. Mangalassery said that star watchers should look up the sky facing west, and they should expect the ISS to emerge on their right side in the northern hemisphere. “Keep on watching the stars. Then you can find the station waltzing across the sky,” he said.
The ISS would be passing by the planet Venus and Betelguese (Thiruvathira Star) and Sirius stars, he said.
