here’s nothing more fun than checking out stars, satellites and planets on a clear, crisp night. We’ve put together a list of some of our favorite links so you can experience the joy of being a sky watcher.

OBSERVING WEATHER

There’s always something to look for every single night, but sometimes the weather just doesn’t want to cooperate. We’ve put together a sky chart which looks at cloud cover, precipitation chance and relative humidity which may indicate haziness. Ideally, you’ll want to look for shades of blue during your observing time on the chart. Keep in mind, this is a model-based forecast, or an estimation of what may happen. Each area is going to be a little different depending on the weather pattern. Good luck!

INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION

The International Space Station looks like an airplane or a very bright star moving across the sky, except it doesn’t have flashing lights or change direction. It will also be moving considerably faster than a typical airplane (airplanes generally fly at about 600 miles per hour; the space station flies at 17,500 miles per hour).

Get the upcoming viewing time below. Data comes from NASA’s Spot the Station and will typically only show the best sighting times greater than 1 minute.

Space Station Resources

Search Space Station viewing times

Get the latest times to see the Space Station in your hometown.

Where is the Space Station Now?

Interactive Space Station viewer.

SPACE STATION TERMS

Time is when the sighting opportunity will begin in your local time zone. All sightings will occur within a few hours before or after sunrise or sunset. This is the optimum viewing period as the sun reflects off the space station and contrasts against the darker sky.

Visible is the maximum time period the space station is visible before crossing back below the horizon.

Max Height is measured in degrees (also known as elevation). It represents the height of the space station from the horizon in the night sky. The horizon is at zero degrees, and directly overhead is ninety degrees. If you hold your fist at arm’s length and place your fist resting on the horizon, the top will be about 10 degrees.

Appears is the location in the sky where the station will be visible first. This value, like maximum height, also is measured in degrees from the horizon. The letters represent compass directions -- N is north, WNW is west by northwest, and so on.

Disappears represents where in the night sky the International Space Station will leave your field of view.

SATELLITE VIEWING

There are thousands of satellites in the sky at one time and many of them are visible if you know where to look. Many of the satellites orbit at an altitude of approximately 22,000+ miles above the Earth’s surface.

Here are a few resources to spot the satellites visible.

Satellite Resources

Virtual Satellite Viewer

See what a satellite would look like from your location.

Satellites Visible In Your Area

Get all the satellite passes over your location.

SUN & PLANETS

Planetary Links

Which planets are visible tonight?

That bright star in the sky could be a planet.

(Near) Real-time Sun Viewer

See what's happening on the sun today.

One of over 425 million high-resolution images of the sun taken by NASA&rsquo;S Solar...

MONTHLY METEOR SHOWER CALENDAR

MONTH	NEXT PERIOD OF PEAK ACTIVITY	METEOR SHOWER	NOTES
JANUARY	Jan 3-4, 2024 night. On this night, the moon will be 51% full.	QUADRANTIDS	The Quadrantids are usually active between the end of December and the second week of January. Unlike other meteor showers that tend to stay at their peak for about two days, the peak period of the Quadrantids only lasts a few hours.
APRIL	April 15th to April 29th, 2024	LYRIDS	Named after constellation Lyra, the Lyrids are one of the oldest recorded meteor showers, according to some historical Chinese texts, the shower was seen over 2,500 years ago. The Lyrids are a medium strength shower that usually produces good rates for three nights centered on the maximum.
MAY	April 15th to May 27th, 2023	ETA AQUARIDS	The Eta Aquarids is one of two meteor showers created by debris from Comet Halley. The Earth passes through Halley’s path around the Sun a second time creating the Orionid meteor shower in October.
JULY	July 7th to August 15th, 2023	ALPHA CAPRICORNIDS	This shower is not very strong and rarely produces in excess of five shower members per hour. What is notable about this shower is the number of bright fireballs produced during its activity period.
JULY TO SEPTEMBER	Aug 12-13, 2023 night. On this night, the moon will be 10% full.	PERSEIDS	The Perseids are one of the brighter meteor showers of the year. They occur every year between July 17 and August 24 and tend to peak around August 9-13.
OCTOBER - NOVEMBER	The Orionids will next peak on the Oct 20-21, 2023 night. On this night, the moon will be 37% full.	ORIONIDS	Orionids are active every year in October, usually peaking around October 20/21. At its peak, up to 20 meteors are visible every hour.
OCTOBER-NOVEMBER	Nov 11-12, 2023 night. On this night, the moon will be 2% full.	NORTHERN TAURIDS	When the two meteor showers are active simultaneously in late October and early November, there is sometimes a notable increase in the fireball activity.
NOVEMBER-DECEMBER	Nov 17-18, 2023 night. On this night, the moon will be 23% full.	LEONIDS	The shower is called Leonids because its radiant, or the point in the sky where the meteors seem to emerge from, lies in the constellation Leo.
NOVEMBER- DECEMBER	Dec 13-14, 2023 night. On this night, the moon will be 1% full.	GEMINIDS	Geminids are considered to be one of the most spectacular meteor showers of the year, with the possibility of sighting around 120 meteors per hour at its peak.
DECEMBER	Dec 21-22, 2023 night. On this night, the moon will be 74% full.	URSIDS	The Ursids are often neglected due to the fact it peaks just before Christmas and the rates are much less than the Geminds. Observers will normally see 5-10 Ursids per hour during the late morning hours on the date of maximum activity.
DECEMBER - JANUARY	Jan 3-4, 2024 night. On this night, the moon will be 51% full.	QUADRANTIDS	The Quadrantids are usually active between the end of December and the second week of January. Unlike other meteor showers that tend to stay at their peak for about two days, the peak period of the Quadrantids only lasts a few hours.

Peak night dates are based on local time. Times do not guarantee visibility. Visibility is based on weather and astronomical conditions. Get additional information on the meteor showers at AMSMETEORS.ORG