The International Space Station (ISS) can be seen in skies over Tallahassee tonight and each night through April 17.
You need to use the Heavens Above web site (link takes you to a page suitable for Tallahassee) to get detailed information of where and when the ISS will rise and set so you know where to look in the sky. You should also use the web site to confirm the times listed below. The orbit times can change if they use the new "Jules Verne" space truck to boost the ISS orbit between now and next week.
It will be quite bright (negative magnitude) tonight and Sunday night, but not easy to see. Tonight (Friday) it will be only 20 degrees above the horizon to the north and will move into shadow at 21:35:25 (9:35 pm) at its highest point. It will be visible for less than 2 minutes. On Sunday it will reach 24 degrees above the horizon to the NE at 20:44 (8:44 pm) and be visible for several minutes before this. It will look like a very fast moving plane but not much brighter than the brightest star.
The best viewing will be Monday, April 14 (almost overhead toward the SW around 21:05), and Wednesday, April 16 (directly overhead around 20:12). It will be spectacularly bright (-2.3 and -2.4 magnitude) and easy to see even if the sky is in twilight, as it will be at 8:12 pm on Wednesday.
It is only visible for a few minutes, so get out early and check the time on your cell phone.
Hope for clear skies!
The next set of viewing opportunities will be in the early morning !! hours on April 30 and May 1.
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