Will Oregon and the Coast See the Space Station This Week?

Published 08/03/2013

(Oregon Coast) – The International Space Station is making another appearance over Oregon and the Oregon coast this month, with some of the brightest showings happening this week. (Above: the ISS over Portland in June)

OMSI planetarium manager Jim Todd said the ISS will be viewable until August 24, but three of the best flyovers happen Sunday and Monday night.

“The flyovers will be at bright magnitude of -3 (equals the brightness of Venus) and visible for duration of 7 minutes,” Todd said.

Two other very bright showings will occur again on Wednesday and Thursday. Wednesday's appearance is close to 10 p.m. at a magnitude -2.9 and another the following night even brighter just a few minutes after 9 p.m. Other extremely bright sightings will happen on August 18 and 19, but according to the ISS schedule from Heaven's Above you can see it sometimes as much as two or three times a night through this month.

Weather looks to be cooperating better in Portland than on the Oregon coast, however. Portland skies will be mostly clear for the next week, according to the National Weather Service. But the Oregon coast will have some issues with mostly cloudy to partly cloudy skies predicted on both nights. Wednesday night will be clearer, however. See full Oregon coast weather here.

Still, find a dark beach or pullover away from city lights and you may get a good break. Suggest spots: dark beaches in Lincoln City, Seaside, Oceanside, Pacific City, Waldport and Newport; 804 trail at Yachats, scenic pullouts between Yachats and Florence, and other pullouts just south of Cannon Beach, north of Manzanita and near Depoe Bay. See the virtual tours at right for maps and details of each area.

Sunday's appearance happens at 10:48 pm, with ISS appearing from WSW, overhead at 90 degrees SSE and then disappears in ENE.

The second appearance will be on Monday, August 5 at 3:40 am, with ISS appearing from WNW, visible at 87 degrees SSW and then disappears in ESE.

The third appearance will be on Monday, August 5 at 10:00 pm, with ISS appearing from SW, visible at 57 degrees SE and then disappears in ENE.

“Depending on your location on the Earth's surface, the spacecraft's position in orbit and the time of day, you may be able to see the International Space Station as they orbit about 240 miles above the planet,” Todd said. “It always amazes people when they are told that they can actually see the Space Station, orbiting at 17,500 mph above Earth, with their own two eyes; no optical aid is needed.”

The ISS is as big as a football field and becomes visible by sunlight shining off its metallic parts.

The ISS is currently occupied by Commander Pavel Vinogradov and Flight Engineers Fyodor Yurchikhin and Alexander Misurkin of the Russian Federal Space Agency, Chris Cassidy and Karen Nyberg of NASA, and Luca Parmitano of the European Space Agency.

Depoe Bay's Rodea Point at night

Cannon Beach at night

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