Emirati astronaut returns home for 6 months: How to spot ISS from Dubai, Abu Dhabi – News

The International Space Station looks like a very bright moving star – so take a closer look at those twinkling spots in the sky

UAE astronaut Sultan Alneyadi, along with the rest of his Crew-6, Now on the International Space Station (ISS). The orbiting laboratory – which will be their home for the next six months – may be 400 kilometers from Earth, but is easily visible in the sky.

In fact, many people must have seen it there, but they didn’t know it was the ISS, said Mohammad Shawkat Odeh, director of the International Astronomical Center (IAC).

“The International Space Station completes an orbit every 91 minutes, so I would say at least 90% of the Earth’s population has seen it. It’s just that some people don’t admit they’ve seen it,” Mohammed told Khaleej era.

The space station is an artificial satellite in low earth orbit. It is jointly operated by the space agencies of the United States, Russia, Japan, Europe and Canada as a research laboratory and is the largest man-made object in the solar system.

“It was so bright it looked like a moving star in the sky,” Mohammad said. “Usually, you can see it at dawn or dusk every day. You can’t see it in the middle of the night because you need the reflection of sunlight. If you want to see the International Space Station, look for it up to two to three hours after sunset.”

“Again, it will be visible between three and a half hours before sunrise.”

Here’s what the International Space Station looks like from the UAE:

Although the satellite passes by the Earth daily, it will not be visible from the UAE for the next few days. “The earliest people can spot the ISS is March 9,” Mohamed said. “It’s unusual to go undetected for so many days, but we’re in an unusual time right now.”

Those looking to spot the ISS in the sky can look for it at 5:45 a.m. on Thursday, March 9, for four minutes. “It will be visible in the western part of the sky,” he said. “It will appear as a very bright moving object.”

However, on March 11, the satellite is expected to be at its brightest. “It will be visible in the west for about seven minutes at 5:44 am,” the expert said.

“It’s going to look very, very bright and spectacular in the sky. It’s going to be one of the brightest gateways ever seen on the ISS.”

Crew-6 members will conduct a total of 250 research experiments during their six-month mission to the ISS. AlNeyadi will conduct at least 20 studies, In addition to the tasks assigned by NASA and the maintenance work of the orbital station.

The next time the ISS will be visible at night will be March 12. “It will only be visible for two minutes at 7:55pm,” Mohammad said.

According to him, the best way for people to spot satellites is to keep looking at the sky. “It looks like a very bright moving star,” he said. “Mostly it lasts 4-5 minutes, sometimes up to 10 minutes. It will appear in the middle of the sky.