The International Space Station will put in some dramatic appearances in Hawaii skies beginning late this week, weather permitting.
On Saturday, the space station will rise in the northwest about 7:20 p.m. and angle to the right.
It will pass directly above Polaris, the North Star, or Hokupa‘a, about 7:22 p.m.
It will arc directly above the nearly full moon just before 7:25.
It will then blink out in the east below the constellation Gemini. Venus will be very bright in the western sky, with Mercury hugging the horizon.
On Feb. 9, the space station will rise in the northwest at about 8:10 p.m. and skim the western horizon, seeming to pass very near or through Venus just before 8:12.
It will set in the southwest about 8:14 p.m.
On Feb. 10, the space station will rise in the northwest about 7:23 p.m. and angle to the left, bisecting the star formation known as the Square of Pegasus. It will pass above Venus and Mercury in the west about 7:25 p.m.
It then will descend toward the southern horizon, entering the Earth’s shadow near the bright star Canopus at about 7:28 p.m.
The passes on Saturday and Feb. 10 will be very bright, rivaling Venus.
The space station, currently 254 miles up and orbiting at 17,130 mph, is visible periodically just before sunrise and just after sunset when it is illuminated by the sun against the darker sky.
Aboard are three Americans — Christina Koch, Jessica Meir and Andrew Morgan, two Russians and an Italian.
Meanwhile, the era of another popular sky show is drawing to a close.
The first generation of Iridium communication satellites is being decommissioned and replaced with ones with a new design that does not produce predictable flares, or brief reflections of the sun that look like an exploding star. According to Heavens-Above.com, that means there will be fewer and fewer flares, and eventually they will stop completely.
