ISS (International Space Station) UK Pass details for the 2012 Christmas period.
ISS UK Pass details for the 2012 Christmas period.
Long Exposure photo of a visible ISS pass Credit: Mark Humpage
The International Space Station (ISS) is back over UK skies with bright passes over the Christmas 2012 period.
The ISS is a large Space Station/ laboratory orbiting the Earth, it can be spotted with the naked eye at certain times as it orbits the planet at 17500mph at an altitude of roughly 200 miles.
Spotting the ISS is very easy and you don’t need any special equipment, only your eyes.
See the Beginners Guide to Seeing the ISS to see how easy it is to spot it sailing over. You can also see this great guide on how to watch and photograph the ISS.
All you need to know is; when and where the ISS will be passing over your location, luckily the United Kingdom is small enough for most of us who live there to see bright ISS passes at the same time.
Only these bright passes are included in the predictions and the fainter, less easy ones have been left out.
The table below gives approximate ISS pass times and basic information and will help you spot the station as it passes over.
Only bright passes which can be seen from the UK are listed and the information is approximate. Timings may differ by a few tens of seconds, dependant on observer’s location. All Times are GMT – UTC.
Make sure you give yourself plenty of time, get your cameras ready and enjoy the ISS as it passes over this Christmas.
Good luck and clear skies…..
ISS bright UK pass details for the 2012 Christmas Period
| Date | Approximate Brightness of the ISS |
ISS Rises 10° over the horizon (start time) | ISS Approaches From (start direction) | ISS Highest Point | ISS Sets/ Goes into Earths Shadow (direction) | ISS Goes into Earths Shadow | Approximate ISS Pass Details |
| 18 December 2012 | Incredibly Bright | 18:00:00 | WSW | 18:04 | SSE | 18:04 | Low Pass |
| 19 December 2012 | Incredibly Bright | 17:10 | WSW | 17:13 | E | 17:15 | Medium Altitude Pass |
| 20 December 2012 | Incredibly Bright | 17:54 | W | 17:58 | E | 17:58 | Overhead Pass |
| 21 December 2012 | Incredibly Bright | 17:02 | W | 17:05 | SE | 17:08 | Overhead Pass |
| 22 December 2012 | Incredibly Bright | 17:46 | W | 17:49 | E | 17:50 | Overhead Pass |
| 23 December 2012 | Incredibly Bright | 17:04 | W | 17:07 | E | 17:10 | Overhead Pass |
| 24 December 2012 | Incredibly Bright | 17:50 | W | 17:53 | ESE | 17:54 | Overhead Pass |
| 25 December 2012 | Incredibly Bright | 17:00 | W | 17:06 | E | 17:09 | Overhead Pass |
| 25 December 2012 | Very Bright | 18:36 | W | 18:39 | S | 18:39 | Medium Altitude Pass |
| 26 December 2012 | Bright | 17:46 | W | 17:49 | ESE | 17:51 | Near Overhead Pass |
| 27 december 2012 | Very Bright | 16:56 | W | 17:00 | SSE | 17:02 | Near Overhead Pass |
| 29 December 2012 | VeryBright | 16:53 | W | 16:56 | SE | 17:00 | Medium Altitude Pass |
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