Expert: Tom Whiting - 9/21/2008

Question
I saw something last evening at approx 2030 hrs. I was located on the ground about 20 statute miles NW of charleston wv. It was moving SW to NE, was brighter than the star or planet thats in the south approx 30 deg above level horizon, no sound, went directly over my position and never dimmed or blinked.  From the time i noticed it ( almost overhead) to the time it went over the NE horizon was about 3 minutes.  Any ideas?
Thanks

Answer
Hi Jim,
Yes, you were seeing the International Space Station (ISS) going over top of you....we were outside watching it too, in Erie PA about 3 minutes earlier. It was only 67 degrees high for us in Erie.
It's slightly brighter than Jupiter now....(that object due south at 8:30 pm in eastern Sagittarius that you referenced it to), and when completed will be as bright as Venus (very low in the west right after sunset in another few weeks from now).
We will get another fine pass of the ISS on Monday night from 7:45 - 7:50 pm. (78 degrees high for us). But there are other passes of the ISS, sometimes several times a night but the others are generally low (20 degrees or less) across the northern sky, moving west to east.  How do I know all this?
You can get predicted passes off the website
http://www.heavens-above.com
for your location.
Just register and sign in (its free) select whatever location you want from their selections.  You can not only get ISS predictions, but also All satellites, the Hubble Telescope (HST) and any satellite brighter than 4.5 magnitude.  You can also get predictions for the famous Iridium Flare satellites too, from that website for your specific location, and they get as bright as a first quarter moon in a pin-point, or -9th magnitude at times, see http://www.satobs.org/iridium.html
or just Google "Iridium flare satellites" for more information.  Another fine website for ISS predictions is
www.spaceweather.com
but it's not as specific as heavens above. But it has other interesting information about stuff like sunspots (there are none this year) and other global cooling events like volcanic aerosols and dust in the stratosphere.  
Better buy your parka and mukluks early, it's going to be a very cold winter with global cooling in full effect this winter. (We've already had a killing frost in this area- New England region- and it's not even the first day of Autumn yet)!
Clear Skies,
Tom Whiting
Erie, PA