If you’re interested in anything astronomy-like or moon-related, and happen to live in certain parts of Ireland, then perhaps you might want to take some time out from your evening later, particularly around 8.45pm (IST). That’s because the orbiting spacecraft, the International Space Station (ISS), will be shuttling past the moon at around this time in a rare spectacle.
People who are in the region of a line from Co Dublin to Bantry, Co Cork, will have the opportunity to see this celestial union tonight (Thursday, 10 October), if they happen to be in the environs of 16 kilometres on either side of this line.
According to Astronomy Ireland, at 8.54pm this evening, the ISS will rise in the west before blazing through the sky towards the moon.
“The ISS will almost look as if it will crash into the moon, but of course this won’t happen, as the moon is about a thousand times further away than the space station,” David Moore from Astronomy Ireland said.
People who want to experience this spectacular event, should, he said, imagine a line drawn from Dublin to Bantry Bay in Cork. For anyone who is along that line or close to it, they can look up and see the ISS pass in front of the moon.
Moore is calling on people to send in their observations of tonight’s celestial spectacle to observe@astronomy.ie so they can go into the Astronomy Ireland magazine, of which Moore is editor.
“This is a very rare event and we want everyone who can to go out and see it!”
Moon image via Shutterstock
