What does the ISS actually look like?

A bright, steady, non-blinking 'star' moving smoothly across the sky at the speed of a high-altitude aircraft. Passes last 2–6 minutes. At its brightest the ISS outshines every star and every planet except Venus.

Why does the ISS suddenly disappear mid-sky?

It just flew into Earth's shadow. The ISS is only visible because it's reflecting sunlight; when it crosses the terminator into the shadow it fades to invisible within about 5–10 seconds. This almost always happens on the eastern half of the pass.

How high above me does it fly?

The ISS orbits at roughly 400 km. Even at overhead passes that's the distance from London to Newcastle — closer than you'd guess, which is why it appears so bright.

How fast is it moving?

About 7.66 km/s — it circles Earth every 92 minutes and the crew see 16 sunrises and sunsets a day.

Do I need a telescope?

No. The ISS is one of the brightest objects in the night sky and is meant to be watched with the naked eye. Binoculars barely help; a telescope tracking it is a serious challenge.

Why are there sometimes no visible passes for days?

The ISS is only visible when it passes overhead AND is illuminated by the Sun AND your sky is dark. The alignment of those three drifts in and out of phase over roughly a two-week cycle — dark weeks are normal.

Where does the pass data come from?

SnapCosmos computes every pass itself. We take the latest NORAD two-line element set for the ISS (catalogue number 25544) from CelesTrak, propagate the orbit with SGP4, and test each pass against your exact coordinates: above 10° elevation, the station in sunlight, and your sky darker than −6° sun altitude. No third-party pass API is involved.

Yes. A 10–30 second exposure at f/2.8, ISO 800 with a wide lens on a tripod captures a bright streak across the sky. To capture surface detail you need a tracked telescope of 8-inch aperture or larger and lucky imaging techniques.

The International Space Station

A pass is only visible from a narrow strip of ground at a time, so pass times are strictly local.

International Space Station

A 420-tonne laboratory orbiting 400 km overhead at 7.66 km/s, bright enough to outshine every star and every planet except Venus.

ISS orbital status · Monday 19 October

Where the station is, right now

The ISS is currently over 46.7° S, 113.5° W at 432 km altitude, moving at 7.65 km/s. It completes an orbit every 93.0 minutes — 15.49 times a day. That is the station's own position, not a statement that anyone can see it.

Sub-satellite point: 46.7° S 113.5° W
Altitude: 432 km
Speed: 7.65 km/s
Orbital period: 93.0 min
Inclination: 51.6°
Element set: Current

These are orbital facts about the station itself, computed with SGP4 from the published element set. A visible pass is different: it needs the station sunlit, your sky dark and the station above your horizon at the same moment — strictly a function of your coordinates. Set a location and SnapCosmos computes every pass for the next 24 hours, with appear direction, peak elevation, duration and cloud cover.

Location not set

Set a location to see tonight's ISS passes

The station orbits every 92 minutes, but a pass is only visible when it flies over you while sunlit against your dark sky. That is a strictly local calculation.

Every visible pass for the next days
Appear and disappear compass directions
Peak altitude, duration and brightness
Cloud cover for each pass window

Your choice stays in this browser. Nothing is sent to a SnapCosmos server.

Practical

How to watch a pass

A visible ISS pass is one of the easiest astronomy observations you'll ever make — five simple steps and no equipment.

Note the appear-time and appear-direction shown on the next-pass card above.
Be outside 2 minutes early with a clear view of that direction.
Face the appear direction and watch just above the horizon.
Once it appears, follow it smoothly across the sky — no binoculars needed.
Expect it to fade out mid-sky as it flies into Earth's shadow.

Photography

Capturing a pass on camera

A tripod, a wide lens and a long exposure is all you need for a dramatic streak across the stars.

Goal	Lens	Exposure	Notes
Streak across constellations	14–24 mm	20–30 s · f/2.8 · ISO 800	One exposure captures the whole arc.
Long arc over foreground	14–20 mm	Stack 6× 30 s · f/2.8 · ISO 400	Blend frames to build a continuous streak.
Surface detail (advanced)	≥ 8" tracked scope	1/1000 s video, lucky imaging	Requires a tracking mount and a fast planetary camera.

What you are seeing

A pressurised laboratory the size of a Boeing 747

The International Space Station is the largest human-made object ever assembled off-planet: a pressurised volume the size of a Boeing 747's interior, an acre of solar panels, orbiting at roughly 400 km and 27,600 km/h. A permanent crew of six or seven has lived aboard continuously since November 2000 — the longest unbroken human presence in space.

What you actually see is sunlight reflecting off those solar arrays and the aluminium modules. That reflection only works when the ISS is above your horizon and still catching the Sun while your sky is already dark — which is why passes cluster in the hour or two after sunset, and the hour before sunrise. When it flies into Earth's shadow mid-sky, it doesn't slow down or disappear — it just stops reflecting sunlight, and vanishes within seconds.

Reading the numbers on each card: max altitude is how high above the horizon the ISS climbs at its peak, in degrees. Anything above 40° is a spectacular pass; below 15° it will be brief and low. The appear and disappear compass directions tell you exactly which patch of horizon to face — the ISS almost always moves west-to-east, but the exact track depends on the orbit geometry for your latitude.

Frequently asked questions

Data sources & methodology

Keep exploring tonight's sky

Tonight's sky guide

Sunset, twilight, moonrise and darkness times for your location.

Moon tonight

Phase, illumination and rise/set times for your location.

Planets tonight

Which planets are visible after sunset and before dawn.

Milky Way tonight

When the Milky Way core is above your horizon.

Meteor showers tonight

Active showers, peak dates and effective rates for your sky.