Stargazing: Look low Friday for glimpse of ISS

You can see the International Space Station (ISS) Friday night as it swiftly slides under the planetary pair Venus and Mars. The pass lasts nine minutes, from 7:09 p.m. until 7:18 p.m., but only three of those minutes will be above 10 degrees in altitude. The ISS is the brightest satellite visible tonight, and will be about as bright as Rigel, Orion's Heel. It will not be as bright as Sirius, or the planets Venus and Jupiter.

The ISS reaches 10 degrees altitude directly under Venus at 7:12 p.m., but it will not rise much higher. Instead it mostly slides from west to south getting up to only 13 degrees at 30 seconds past 7:13 p.m., passing between Tau Ceti and Beta Ceti, better known as Deneb Kaitos.

Tau Ceti and Deneb Kaitos are in the tail area of Cetus, the Sea Monster, or with better public relations, the Whale. Tau is higher in the sky almost in the southwest, whereas the brighter star Deneb Kaitos hovers 10 degrees above the horizon in the west-southwest. This is all about 20 degrees to the left of Venus, in case you aren't sure about directions.

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Tau Ceti is just under 12 light-years from the solar system. As a relatively nearby star with a G spectral class — like the sun — it is a frequent subject for science fiction stories. With possibly five planets orbiting Tau Ceti, with two of these being potentially in the habitable zone, it has also been the focus of some of the Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI). It appears as a third magnitude star. Our sun would appear as another third magnitude star if viewed from Tau Ceti, but on the opposite side of the sky.

Somewhat smaller than the sun, Tau Ceti produces only 55 percent of the sun's light. To receive the same amount of light as Earth, a planet in that system would have to roughly as close as Venus is to the sun.

You probably should forget about any plans for emigrating to Tau Ceti, though. Studies have shown that the Tau Ceti system contains more than 10 times the dust and debris of our solar system. The chances of a catastrophic asteroid impact are much higher.

Bernie Badger is Project Coordinator at the Eastern Florida State CollegePlanetarium in Cocoa. Send questions, suggestions, or comments to mailto:badgerb@easternflorida.edu

At the planetarium

The EFSC Planetarium in Cocoa open to the public Friday and Saturday evenings and Wednesday afternoons. The astronomy shows are up first followed by an IMAX movie. Friday and Saturday schedules also include an exciting laser music show and the observatory. There are new paintings in the art gallery featuring classic cars and motorcycles.

Jupiter and its moons are prime targets of the EFSC Observatory's 24-inch telescope this week.

FRIDAY

7 p.m. Skywatchers of Africa

8:15 p.m. Tropical Rainforest (IMAX)

9 p.m. Jimi Hendrix Laser Experience

SATURDAY

7 p.m. Legends of the Sky: Orion

8:15 p.m. Solar Max (IMAX)

9 p.m. U2 Laser Experience

WEDNESDAY

2 p.m. The Planets

3:15 p.m. Solar Max (IMAX)