An excellent ISS pass Friday night

I sent this out to my fellow NASA astronomy educators this morning and thought our list would enjoy it too. Jane I was at the Art Center College of Design's http://www.artcenter.edu/accd/index.jsp open house last night viewing (and using) my Cassini Colleague Dave Doody's Gravity Assist Mechanical Simulator - (a work of art that does hands-on science), and we stepped outside to view the ISS a little before 9 p.m. We started looking near Jupiter - that bright thing in the southwestern sky. At a few minutes later than scheduled (I think) - maybe the clocks were off, I spied a little moving 'star" started rising slowly near Jupiter. Over the course of about 5 minutes it got higher and higher and brighter and brighter. There were clouds or fog marring some of the starry signposts, and in fact I gave up looking after a few minutes, and Dave started walking back inside. Then I saw it and hollered, and Dave and others came back out. It was soon as bright as Jupiter. Meanwhile, Mojo was at a Baldwin Park school doing the same thing, showing Jupiter and the International Space Station. There is another ISS pass Friday night.....beginning 8:02 p.m., reaches 10 degrees of altitude at 8:04, reaches maximum altitude - highest point is a whopping 83 degrees (90 degrees is straight overhead) at 8:07, then drops below 10 degrees above the horizon at 8:10 p.m. That's a nice long pass. http://www.heavens-above.com/PassDetails.asp?SatID=25544&lat=34.148&… Be sure to check out the ground track link, as ISS passes directly over Pasadena both nights. And if greater LA is not your location, you can create your own map from the home page link. Are you wondering if you'll be able to see the ISS, despite some of our pesky evening fog? If you can see bright Jupiter in the SW about 30 degrees above the horizon, then you should be able to see the ISS. Use Jupiter as your reference point. The ISS will rise from the SW, rise near Jupiter - which is about where I spotted it last night , tho' it was an hour later and an hour darker last night. It will continue brightening and rising almost overhead, then start sinking in altitude towards the NE. No telescope required, this is a view for the unaided eye. There are also locally visible passes on the 17th and 19th http://www.heavens-above.com/PassSummary.asp?lat=34.148&lng=-118.144&am… but the altitude is quite low at maximum altitude, meaning that trees and buildings may mar your view. Friday is the best next pass. Next news will be about our next sidewalk dates and a pretty view in the pre-dawn morning sky for you early risers - Mercury, Venus Moon and Saturn on the eastern horizon. -- Jane Houston Jones Senior Outreach Specialist, Cassini Program JPL - 4800 Oak Grove Drive, MS 230-205 Pasadena, CA 91109 818-393-6435 jane.h.jones(a)jpl.nasa.gov Cassini Saturn Observation Campaign http://soc.jpl.nasa.gov/index.cfm