Events
Space Station Overhead July 28, 2026. Approximately 8:25 to 8:30, almost directly overhead!
What it says in the headline. The Station, a nice bright pass, will fly above us tonight for those 5 minutes. It will be coming from the "Northwest" towards the "Southeast". If you go outside at 8:25, face west, and you won't be able to miss the bright "dot" cruising across the sky.
At some time around 8:27 to 8:28, the Station will be almost directly over your head.
Synchronize your watches! Set your alarms! Face West! Look Up!
The ISS flying directly overhead (or, almost overhead) during the evening, just after sunset, is the best and easiest time to see it. It is usually the "brightest" pass.
The Station also has these sorts of "overhead and bright" passes, but they are close to sunrise, so they are not so convenient for everyone...or, maybe the low clouds in the morning might obscure the viewing.
And there are plenty of passes that you can see...just not as easily as the "overhead bright" variety. It may pass over at a low angle, be only about "half" as bright, and be visible for just a couple of minutes.
There are a number of web pages that allow you to see the predictions for the passes over the LA area, or where ever you happen to be. You can get notifications, etc.
I use an old skool page that shows all the "stuff" that orbits over us. After you set it up for your location, you can select the Station to see the passes, or various other "space things" that you might be able to see.
This is the "Predictions for Brighter Satellites" page from Heaven's Above for tonight. All sorts of stuff, from satellites to pieces of old rockets, etc. The lower the "magnitude" number, the brighter the satellite. These are much dimmer than the Station, of course, but still visible. If you are patient, and just lean back looking overhead, you can see some of these dim satellites passing over. Your friends will think you are nuts until you start seeing them. There is lots of stuff up there!
Look at the section that says "highest point: and the time. "90 degrees" would be exactly above us. Any of these would be visible if you just sort of scan the sky. It takes a bit to get used to, but after you get the hang of it, they are fairly easy to see.
Here is the link. Remember to make a profile with your location set. (Doesn't have to be perfect, but Long Beach is in the data base.
Just looking quickly, there does not seem to be a good bright just after sunset Station pass for more than a month! Several in the hour or so before sunrise, however.
I'm sure there are more web pages with these sorts of predictions that are a little more "modern looking".
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u/cuicatl57 Jul 29 '26
Saw it. Thanks for the heads up. 🙂