THE International Space Station (ISS) is back in the late evening/post-midnight sky again, and is strikingly bright too, writes STUART ATKINSON. If you haven't managed to see it before, now is the perfect time. All you have to do is go out on the following dates, at the times given, face the west (if you're not sure which way is west, just remember roughly where the Sun set earlier in the evening and look in that direction) then wait for a bright 'star' to start climbing up from the horizon and that's it, that's the ISS.

As it rises up into the sky the ISS will start to arc towards the south, or towards your left as you're looking at it. Note: no two passes are the same. Some reach higher in the sky than others, some cross more of the sky than others, and some are much brighter than others. But all the following passes will be striking to the naked eye, and if the sky is clear you'll see them with no problem whatsoever.

If you have a pair of binoculars it's fun to watch the ISS through them. You won't see any of its huge solar panels or modules, but it will look bigger and much brighter as it sails silently across the sky, passing stars along its way.

So, those dates and times: June 1 23:33; June 2 01:10 and 02:41; June 3 00:17 and 23:25; June 4 22:33; June 5 00:11 and 23:18.

Don't mistake the planet Jupiter for the ISS. Jupiter is currently high in the south after sunset, but it doesn't move as you look at it. The ISS moves, quite quickly, as fast as an airplane.