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ISS tonight in Oxford

Not tonight. The next time you can see the ISS from Oxford is tomorrow morning at 05:30, from the S, reaching 24° up and gone at 05:34 in the E (4 min).

Visible ISS passes, next 5 days7
Visible Tiangong passes0
Highest ISS pass82° up

Times are UK time (BST), worked out from the latest orbit data and updated every 30 minutes. Directions are where to look; height is degrees above the horizon (90° is straight up).

Where the ISS is now

The International Space Station (yellow) and Tiangong (pink) live, with the last 45 minutes of their path dotted and the next orbit solid. The ring around each one is where it stands 10° or more above the horizon right now, and the blue dot is Oxford. Drag to spin the globe.

ISS: over 33.8°S 67.7°E, 427 km up · Tiangong: over 40.0°N 90.6°E, 385 km up

When to see the ISS from Oxford

When	Appears	Highest	Disappears	Visible for
Tomorrow morning	05:30 from the S	24° Bright	05:34 in the E	4 min
Tuesday morning	04:45 from the ESE	15° Low	04:46 in the E	1 min
Tuesday morning	06:18 from the SW	57° Very bright	06:24 in the E	6 min
Wednesday morning	05:33 from the S	44° Very bright	05:36 in the E	4 min
Thursday morning	04:47 from the ESE	20° Bright	04:49 in the E	1 min
Thursday morning	06:20 from the WSW	82° Very bright	06:25 in the E	5 min
Friday morning	05:35 from the SSE	71° Very bright	05:38 in the E	3 min

Tiangong over Oxford

No visible Tiangong passes in the next five days.

How to watch

Be outside a couple of minutes early and face the direction it appears from. The station rises as a bright, steady point (planes blink, satellites don't) and climbs across the sky for a few minutes. Many passes end with it fading out in mid-sky as it slides into Earth's shadow. Binoculars show nothing more than a point, but a phone on a tripod with a 10 to 20 second exposure catches its trail.

Hills and buildings hide passes that stay low, under about 20°. For those, find an open view in that direction: a hilltop, a beach or a park.

Questions

Can I see the ISS tonight in Oxford?

Not tonight. The next time you can see the ISS from Oxford is tomorrow morning at 05:30, from the S, reaching 24° up and gone at 05:34 in the E (4 min).

Where do I look for the ISS from Oxford?

Look S at 05:30 tomorrow morning. It appears as a bright, steady star moving across the sky, with no flashing lights, and takes a few minutes to cross. It fades out when it enters Earth's shadow, often before reaching the horizon.

What is Tiangong?

Tiangong is China's space station. It orbits lower and at a lower angle to the equator than the ISS, so from the UK it stays lower in the southern sky and is fainter, but it is still easy to see with your eyes on a good pass.

Why can I only see the ISS on some nights?

You see it by reflected sunlight, so it has to be sunlit while your sky is dark. That only happens near dawn and dusk, and only in spells of a week or two each month, when its orbit lines up with your evening or morning sky. In midsummer the UK can see it all night, because the sky never gets fully dark and the station stays in sunlight.

ISS tonight elsewhere

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