Space station

[wendilla]

I have been tracking the spacestation in the UK for weeks on the orbital tracking.Had some fantastic sightings but at the moment there are no sightings as it goes over in the day and in the southern hemisphere in the evenings. What is the reason for this as I know in a week or two it will be back to evening sightings in the uk.THANKS.

[Teddio]

The Earth rotates once on its axis in 24 hours. The ISS makes one orbit of the Earth in approximately 100 minutes and its orbit is inclined to the equator. To see the ISS the Sun must not be too far beneath the horizon. Light from the Sun is reflected from the ISS back to the dark Earth. This arrangement of Earth, ISS and Sun cannot occur every evening or dawn because of the different respective orbital speeds.

[wendilla]

Thanks for your reply and explanation from which I now understand better.