Area residents were treated to a brief but spectacular glimpse of the International Space Station and the Shuttle Atlantis late Tuesday evening. Skies were cloudless and visibilities unlimited as the two spacecraft moved from the western sky to the eastern horizon between 9:31 and 9:35 p.m. before disappearing in the Earth’s shadow. If weather permits, area residents may get another chance to view the Space Station Wednesday evening beginning around 9:53 p.m., says Triton College astronomer Dan Joyce. The only fly in the ointment would be the arrival of thin high clouds blowing off distant storms. Joyce advises looking for a small moving object in the western sky just south of Venus—the brightest object visible in the early evening sky this time of the year. The Space Station may only be about a third as bright as Venus and will be seen moving south/southeastward. It’s likely to be highest in the sky around 9:55 p.m. and will disappear a minute or so later.
--By Tom Skilling, WGN-TV Chief Meteorologist
WGN-TV Chief Meteorologist Tom Skilling and the WGN Weather Center staff provide daily coverage of weather in the Chicago area.
