Bright pass by Int'l Space Station this evening
Space Cadets! If skies stay clear enough, we'll have a fine opportunity this (Thursday) evening to watch the International Space Station fly almost directly over Baltimore.
The ISS will be cruising up the East Coast around dinner time. We'll catch our first glimpse as it 
passes 220 miles over Georgia, and we'll be able to watch it until it disappears in the Earth's shadow off the coast of Maine.
Look for a bright, star-like object rising above the southwest horizon at 6:53 p.m. If it has multiple lights, colored or blinking lights, it's an aircraft. Keep looking.
The ISS will climb toward the zenith, passing above the bright winter constellation Orion at about 6:56 p.m. From there, the station will fly above the twin stars of Gemini and - just below Gemini in the eastern sky, reddish Mars - before vanishing in the northeast at about 6:58 p.m.
As always, take the kids outside with you. They're great at spotting this thing. And then come back here and leave a report to share the experience.
Got the stargazing bug? Head out to the Community College of Baltimore County, this Friday evening for a Star Party being thrown by the school's Astronomy Dept. Here are the details:
"Star Party, from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Observatory at CCBC, 7200 Sollers Point Road. If conditions appear cloudy, rainy or snowy, please check for cancellations by calling 410 282-3092 approximately 45 minutes before the scheduled start time.
"Visit the CCBC Web site for additional information about star parties, or call 443 840-4216." The star parties are free.
Comments
Full details are available at http://heavens-above.com
Posted by: Baruch Atta | March 4, 2010 4:38 PM
Beautiful! Got a good view up in Northern Baltimore county. We have observed before and the light has gotten bigger and brighter as the space station has grown. Greetings from Maryland!!
Posted by: CJ | March 4, 2010 7:12 PM
The wife and I make a point of going out together to watch the ISS. Posts like this have created a new interest in the space program for her and renewed my interest in the field. Tonight there were broken clouds on the horizon, but it was visible for most of it's arc here in Catonsville until it either went into shadow or was blocked by clouds.
Posted by: Snow Fighter | March 4, 2010 7:14 PM
My wife and I went out to see it as well. We are in Catonsville. I was pleased to see how bright it is now and it was moving really fast in comparison to other aircraft. Near the end of its pass it illuminated the clouds that it was over top of! Really cool! When is the next pass for this area? Please keep us posted.
FR: I try to post alerts for the best evening passes, here or in the print editions of The Sun. Or both. There is another fine one for Central Maryland Saturday evening. I will post the specifics here later today.
Posted by: AVC | March 5, 2010 11:31 AM