With immaculate timing , the International Space Station ( ISS ) will be score its yearly trek across the nighttime sky on Christmas Eve , so if you are a parent , or know a small-scale somebody who will be beguiled to see “ proof ” of Santa on his interfering mission , here ’s how you win all the imp breaker point .
This year offers up three opportunities to distinguish the ISS whizzing across the sky on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day , though you ’ll have to get up pretty early to take in it .
Of of course , the space post does n’t just appear like magic in the sky at Christmas . Traveling at 28,160 kilometer per hour ( 17,500 mile per 60 minutes ) , it orbits Earth 16 prison term a day , once every 90 minutes . If you ’re an astronaut on the ISS , that means you get to experience 16 daybreak and sundown every day ( hence so manyspectacular photos ) . However , every ambit covers a different part of Earth , so not everyone will be lucky enough to see Saint Nick ( and our place traveller ) as he whoosh by .
That entail for us – most of the Northern Hemisphere and part of the Southern – we should be able to see Santa ’s sleigh zoom past from around 5 am onward on December 24 , and then doubly on December 25 , first from 6 am onward and then again 90 minutes later .
Of course , those times will be different depending on where you are on the planet , which is where NASA’sSpot the Stationtool step in . Just enter your location and it will provide up all see opportunities from now until December 26 .
For example , in Los Angeles , you will be able to see the satellite fly overhead at 5.49am local sentence Christmas Eve and 5.03am Christmas daylight . In London , you ’ll need to pop outside at 6.06am local clock time on December 24 , and get the alternative of 5.18am or 6.53am on December 25 . It will only be seeable for 3 - 4 mo each time , so be straightaway .
The darker the sky , the best you ’ll see the ISS . The brightness of the satellite can vary depending on locating , altitude , and – because it has no igniter of its own – how much sun is reflecting off it , which is why satellites are best seen just after sundown or before sunrise .
Here ’s a duet of tip to help you single it out : It will appear in the sky going from west to east , it ’s very fast , and will appear as a constant bright ignitor – no flash or trice .
Do n’t forget to curl at the six astronauts and cosmonauts on gameboard as they go by at 408 klick ( 253 miles ) above Earth . Santa will credibly be too meddlesome to undulate back . After all , he has a band to get done in one night .
