ISS transits of the Sun and Moon near Mesa

PlaceMesa

White: from here, 3.8° off. Orange: from the centre line, across the middle in 1.1 s

Tiangong · Moon

Fri, Oct 23 · 10:24:21 AM · in 3.8 days

From here it misses. The orange line 89 km away is the centre line; anywhere in the 11 km band around it sees the crossing.

Where to look: southeast, 31° up
Band width: 10.9 km
Station's distance: 771 km
Nearest centre-line point: 32.7287, -111.3360 ↗

How to catch it

Be on the centre line a few minutes early: the crossing is over in about a second, too fast to aim.
Record video or a fast burst (10+ frames a second) with a long lens, and start a few seconds before.
Check again the day before: orbit updates can move the line by a few km.
Moon transits work with any telescope or long lens; Sun transits need a solar filter.

Transits and near misses, next 14 days

Orange: it crosses the disc from here. Otherwise the line shows how far to go. Tap one to see it.

What is a transit?

Seen from a spot on the ground, the space station sometimes lines up exactly with the Sun or the Moon and passes in front of it as a tiny black shape.

Because the station is only 400 km up, a few km to the side is enough to make it miss: the transit is visible only from a narrow band, the centre line.

These times come from the latest orbit; the further ahead, the more the line can shift.

Computed by OrbitNight from the latest orbits (Space-Track) with astronomy-engine for the Sun and Moon.

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