As if it were the passage of a shooting star, the International Space Station (ISS, for its acronym in English) will cross the Rosario sky on Tuesday and can be seen with the naked eye, without the need for sophisticated devices. It will only be enough to look at the sky from the northwest towards the constellation of Scorpio, which is at the zenith. The phenomenon can be seen with the diaphanous sky between 7:40 p.m. and 7:45 p.m., but it is advisable to contemplate the sky a little earlier.
The station is orbiting 400 kilometers from the earth’s surface, weighs 450 tons and measures about 100 meters long by another 100 meters in diameter and 30 meters thick. It takes only 90 minutes to rotate around the planet, at a speed close to 30 thousand kilometers per hour, which means that its crew can appreciate 15 sunrises and sunsets every 24 hours.
However, it is not always possible to see it with the naked eye, since that depends on whether its panels can refract sunlight. By the way, the person in charge of the “Mirador del Cielo” observatory in Villa de Merlo (San Luis), Conrado Kurz, specified The capital that the Space Station will emerge from the horizon and will be seen in all its splendor when it passes through the zenith (the highest part of the sky seen from Earth).
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“You will notice a very intense shine, similar to the star, and it moves quickly”Kurz pointed out. And he specified that “it will pass well over the heads of the inhabitants of Rosario over the constellation of Scorpio, very close to the planets Jupiter and Saturn “. In turn, he assured that those curious and lovers of astronomy “will not need any instrument” because “a very bright star will be appreciated, which will last between 5 and 10 minutes, depending on the location.”
In the case of Rosario, the astronomer indicated that the phenomenon can be seen between 7:40 p.m. and 7:45 p.m., although to ensure a clear and clear view of the station, he recommended being attentive “a while before, always looking from the northwest of the horizon.”
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“All satellites, including the Space Station, can be seen because they reflect sunlight, that is, they lack their own light”Kurz explained about the sighting of the space object. And he added that the Space Station rotates every hour and a half around the planet.
“If it is daytime or if the season passes through the cone of shadow cast by the Earth, it cannot be seen either”, he pointed. That is why the evening of this Tuesday will be the propitious moment to see how the Space Station crosses the sky of Rosario as if it were a shooting star or an unidentified flying object (UFO).
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