Venus and The International Space Station in August
A brief summary of the stunning solar and lunar views to be seen on August 17th.
For those of you lucky enough to be up early on August 17th, you are likely to see Venus and the crescent moon together on the Eastern horizon. The crescent moon and Venus are close together in this morning sky, making a pretty picture. NASA says the pair will appear so close together that a thumb extended at arm’s length will hide them.
To spot them today, stand in the shade and look due east of the sun’s position. Once you spot the crescent moon, look a few thumb-widths around it for Venus. Don’t use binoculars or a telescope to view them during the daytime, as you may accidentally look at the sun. Both will be easier to see once the sun goes down, as they will be among the brightest objects in the sky.
If you live North America you may well also see the International Space Station cross the sky.
As the sun is currently blank with no prominent sun-spots at the time the International Space Station will make it’s transit, it will be very easy to see it’s silhouette. Unfortunately, if you blink you may miss it as the transit may well take less than a few seconds.
You might like my other science articles:
The Perseids Meteor Shower – August 2009
Lunar Eclipse: August 5-6, 2009
Hurricanes, Tropical Storms, Cyclones, and Typhoons
Earthquakes: Causes, Effects and Prediction, Including the Recent California Earthquake
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5 Responses to “Venus and The International Space Station in August”
On August 16, 2009 at 10:02 pm
cool
On August 16, 2009 at 10:57 pm
hmm i dont live in north america :S
On August 16, 2009 at 11:34 pm
Gee, I always miss those neat things. Thanks for the picture, at least I can see what it looked like.
On December 29, 2009 at 9:42 pm
Excellent
via http://mistywood.weebly.com/
On January 2, 2010 at 4:34 pm
Visit n2yo.com to view ‘in real time’ the location of the ISS, other orbiting satellites.
I spend lottsa time here… just dreaming..
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