A week or so ago I mentioned the NASA’s Satellite Sightings page for anyone interested in searching the skies for man-made objects.  At the time, there were only a few sighting opportunities, all of the International Space Station.  This week offers quite a bit more.  Along with the International Space Station, there will be chances next week to see the Space Shuttle Atlantis and Progress spacecraft.  Here’s the current schedule for the week, though I would encourage checking NASA’s page for the most updated schedule:

SATELLITE	LOCAL DATE/TIME	DURATION (MIN)	MAX ELEV (DEG)	APPROACH (DEG-DIR)	DEPARTURE (DEG-DIR)
ISS	Feb 13/07:10 PM	1	14	10 above N	14 above NNE
ISS	Feb 14/07:30 PM	2	34	11 above NNW	34 above N
ISS	Feb 15/07:51 PM	2	38	13 above WNW	38 above W
ISS	Feb 16/06:36 PM	5	32	10 above NNW	10 above ESE
ISS	Feb 16/08:12 PM	< 1	13	12 above WSW	13 above WSW
ISS	Feb 17/06:56 PM	5	61	10 above NW	10 above SE
ISS	Feb 18/07:18 PM	1	15	15 above SW	11 above SSW
SHUTTLE	Feb 13/07:10 PM	1	15	10 above N	15 above NNE
SHUTTLE	Feb 14/07:30 PM	2	35	11 above NNW	35 above N
SHUTTLE	Feb 15/07:50 PM	1	37	16 above WNW	37 above W
SHUTTLE	Feb 16/06:36 PM	5	34	11 above NNW	10 above ESE
SHUTTLE	Feb 16/08:12 PM	< 1	12	12 above WSW	12 above SW
SHUTTLE	Feb 17/06:56 PM	5	55	10 above WNW	10 above SE
SHUTTLE	Feb 18/07:18 PM	1	14	14 above SW	10 above SSW
PROGRESS	Feb 13/07:32 PM	1	16	10 above NNW	16 above N
PROGRESS	Feb 14/07:55 PM	1	21	11 above NW	21 above NW
PROGRESS	Feb 15/06:43 PM	4	22	10 above NNW	11 above E

A couple Space events for those of you interested in looking skyward:

First, there’s the Jupiter/Venus/Moon sky show happening in our morning sky: 

…these final days of January and the first days of February will be an exceptional time for predawn sky watchers with a beautiful pairing of the two brightest planets, Venus and Jupiter. They will appear closest together in the dawn sky of Friday, February 1, and a few mornings later, on Monday, February 4, the waning crescent moon will later drop by to join them.

http://www.space.com/spacewatch/080125-ns-moon-planets.html

---

If the morning hours aren’t your thing, you can catch a glimpe of the International Space Station in the evening.  NASA’s Satellite Sightings page for Asheville lists all potential satellite sightings in our area, and it’s updated weekly.  Here’s the schedule for the next two days:

SATELLITE	LOCAL DATE/TIME	DURATION (MIN)	MAX ELEV (DEG)	APPROACH (DEG-DIR)	DEPARTURE (DEG-DIR)
ISS	Thu Jan 31/07:21 PM	2	17	14 above WNW	16 above N
ISS	Sat Feb 02/06:29 PM	3	19	16 above WNW	10 above NNE

and here’s the Help page, which describes what the above numbers mean and how to use them.