HERE is the Skywatch column written by Stuart Atkinson. 

The good news is that the International Space Station (ISS) is visible in our sky again, and there are lots of opportunities to see it over the next week.

The bad news is that while the last time the space station was visible to us it was crossing the evening sky, at the moment it is moving across the sky in the early hours before dawn, so if you want to see it you'll have to get up early.

If you've seen the ISS before you can skip this next bit and go straight to the dates and times below, but if you haven't  seen it before then you are looking for a bright "star" that rises in the west, arcs across the sky - from right to left as you're standing there looking at the sky - and then sets or fades from view over in the east.

The movement is the key: if you're looking at a bright light standing still in the sky that's a star or a planet, not the ISS: many people will be mistaking the bright planet Venus for the ISS at the moment because Venus is a brilliant "Morning Stars" low in the south-east before sunrise, but there's an easy was yo tell them apart: Venus doesn't move as you look at it.

Go out on the following dates, just before the times given, and face the west. Eventually you'll see a "star" rising up from the horizon, heading left.

This will be the ISS. Some "passes" are higher and brighter than others, but even the faint, low passes are fascinating to watch when you realise you're looking at a real life spaceship, with a crew of astronauts onboard, flying through the constellations at 17,000 mph.

  • DATE: February 24th. TIMES: 05:18
  • DATE: 25th. TIMES: 04:31 and 06:06
  • DATE: 26th. TIMES: 05:18
  • DATE: 27th. TIMES: 04:31 and 06:07
  • DATE: 28th. TIMES: 03:44 and 05:18
  • DATE: 1st March. TIMES: 04:31 and 06:07