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ISS transits of the Sun and Moon near St. Petersburg, Florida

PlaceSt. Petersburg, Florida
White: from here, 3.5° off. Orange: from the centre line, across the middle in 1.3 s
St. Petersburg, Floridanortheast 40 kmCentre lineOpen the centre line in your map app ↗

ISS · Sun

Sat, Oct 24 · 11:56:43 PM · in 5.4 days

From here it misses. The orange line 40 km away is the centre line; anywhere in the 6 km band around it sees the crossing.

Where to look
southeast, 38° up
Band width
6.2 km
Station's distance
664 km
Nearest centre-line point
28.0145, -82.3794 ↗

Protect your eyesOnly with a certified solar filter, also on the front of any camera or binoculars.

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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