Mysore/Mysuru: The International Space Station (ISS) will be visible in the city skyline during early hours tomorrow, Apr. 19. 

“Tomorrow morning is a great time to view the ISS from most parts of Karnataka. It can be spotted rising quite brightly in the southern part of the morning sky around 05:33 and seen to move towards East of North East (ENE), setting around 05:42. It attains maximum brightness of – 1.9 around 05:37, at an altitude of 29 degrees,” Eclipse Chaser Dr. S.N. Prasad, former Professor of Physics, Regional Institute of Education (RIE), Mysuru told Star of Mysore.

“It will then be quite close to the Moon as well the three planets – Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. Weather permitting, you should be able to see it very clearly for about four minutes at least. So, it is a great opportunity and I hope you will utilise it,” he said.

Known as one of the incredible human achievements in space science, ISS is located at a height of around 350 km from the surface of the Earth and continuously revolves around the Earth at a speed of around 6.77km/second. Given its speed of rotation, the space station completes 16 rotations in one day.

Hence, the astronauts from ISS can witness 16 sunrises and also an equal number of sunsets in a single day. Amateurs as well as experts can observe the ISS from their homes or terraces and that they should not forget to observe the norms of social distancing during the rare sighting. 

As per US-based National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), astronaut Chris Cassidy and two Russian cosmonauts arrived Thursday for their mission aboard the ISS, restoring the orbiting laboratory’s population to six people.