International Space Station visible in Lowcountry skies. Here’s when and where to look

Want to see the International Space Station streak across the sky over Beaufort County? Your best opportunity could be Monday night, and an early sunset and clear skies will only make it easier to spot.

The space station will be visible for six minutes starting at 5:39 p.m., according to the Spot the Station website that tracks the station’s whereabouts.

Where should you look? The station will be visible to the naked eye starting in the south-southwestern sky and moving toward east-northeast. It will look like a bright and fast-moving plane, NASA explains.

The space station’s highest elevation will be at 48 degrees. (The horizon is zero degrees and straight overhead is 90 degrees, so keep your eyes about halfway between them.)

Coincidentally, this week’s Lowcountry sunsets will be the earliest of the year, according to the National Weather Service in Charleston. Monday night’s sunset will be at 5:17 p.m.

Spot the Station says the best times to view the space station are when the sun’s rays around sunrise or sunset can reflect off of it in a dark sky.

And Monday’s weather forecast also will work in watchers’ favor: Skies should be clear, according to the weather service.

The ISS circles the Earth every 90 minutes at about 17,500 miles per hour.

On another orbit Monday, it will be visible from Beaufort County for one minute starting at 7:17 p.m. Look for it to move from west-northwest to northwest just over the horizon.

The space station also will be visible again on Tuesday and Thursday nights, but the weather forecast includes the possibility of clouds for those evenings.

Here are the times to watch for the station:

▪  Monday, Nov. 27, at 5:39 p.m. for 6 minutes, moving from south-southeast to east-northeast

▪  Monday, Nov. 27, at 7:17 p.m. for 1 minute, moving from west-northwest to northwest

▪  Tuesday, Nov. 28, at 6:25 p.m. for 3 minutes, moving from west-northwest to north-northeast

▪  Thursday, Nov. 30, at 6:17 p.m. for 3 minutes, moving from northwest to north

This story was originally published November 27, 2017 at 11:14 AM with the headline "International Space Station visible in Lowcountry skies. Here’s when and where to look."