International Space Station seen from Space Shuttle, courtesy NASA.

The International Space Station (ISS) is visible over the UK in the early evening this week. To see it, go outside at dusk and look for a bright light, much brighter than the stars, moving steadily from West to East. This evening, 15th March 2010, it will be visible for about 5 minutes, starting at 7.10pm in the west. It should rise to an altitude of about 60º above the southern horizon, before falling into the east and vanishing into the Earth's shadow.

There will be other bright passes at dusk on Tuesday and Wednesday. The last chance to see the ISS on this set of passes will be Sunday, when it will be 15º above the horizon at dusk. A full set of times for London, with sky maps, is available from Heavens Above. Other locations in the UK can be selected from the Heavens Above home page.