> > > > Isn't that space station getting big enough to see with the unaided eye? They put those whopping big solar panels on it and turned it into a football field. I remember seeing the Echo I, 100 ft diameter, and the Echo II, 135 feet diameter. The ISS should stand out like a zit on the end of you nose. I guess you have to know where and when to look.
> > > > Howard
> > >
> > > if you go south of the equator ;) It's in orbit over the southern hemisphere, so it's not visible to a lot of us, including you.
> > >
> > > Here's it's current location:
> > >
> > > http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/temp/StationLoc.html
> >
> > I know you're pulling my leg! I know enough about orbital mechanics to know that, unless a satellite is orbiting directly above the equator, half of it's orbit will be over the northern hemisphere and half over the southern hemisphere. But I suppose an equatorial orbit would be too far south to see from 36 degrees N. I'll bet that's it. I'm going to follow your link and see if it's orbiting over the equator. If it is, I'll just go south. Orlando! That's it, I'll go to Orlando.
> > Howard
>
>
> Mystery solved. When you looked at that site, the space station was over the southern hemisphere. By the time I got there, it had crossed the equator and was near Hawaii, moving roughly ENE. It will cross the USA shortly after 10 pm tonight. I looked around the site and found that (** This is really neat!**) I could register for an email notification of when it would be visible from my area. I just gave them my zip code and email address. Thanks for finding that site for me.
> How"eyeball astronomer"ard

PS - I'm still going to Orlando. The first week in January, I think.
H