On May 14, 2020 ISS will be passing over Surat. It will be visible clearly in the evening as it rises from South-West sky to pass before your eyes in the East sky to disappears in North-east direction.
No spotting in May. It has been a while seen ISS has been fairly visible in Surat with naked eye. Whole of May there was no spotting till today. The brightness of objects in sky are measured by scale of Magnitude. Negative values indicate brighter object like Venus is near -4 while positive values indicate fainter objects like stars in constellations. Venus is the brightest planet visible in night sky. Sirius comes next as the brightest star in the sky. If you have seen any stars in the west after Sunset, you may have either seen Sirius or Venus shining brightly like a bulb or local lighting.
ISS will be visible as bright as -3.2 on 14th May 2020 at around 8:10 PM or so. It will rise from the South-West sky slowly appearing like an aeroplane light but it doesn’t blink. It will appear to constantly increase in brightness as it rises high and then seeming to fly by towards the North-east. It will be visible for 4-5 minutes before it disappears into thin air where it will fall in the shadow region due to which it won’t be visible even though it is flying ahead.
Bright dot in the centre is ISS
Watching ISS flyby with naked eye is a unique experience, especially knowing that there are people in it. Currently there are three astronauts housed at International Space station from April 9, 2020 as a part of Expedition 63. NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy, Russian cosmonauts Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner are part of the crew.
— Intl. Space Station (@Space_Station) May 13, 2020
To get the best experience get yourself positioned for darkness and direction 15-20 minutes before the flyby time. You can enjoy looking and spotting other objects in sky like Venus, Sirius, Antares and other bright objects in sky. Also use a compass to identify the direction like South, East and West.
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Some stars are brighter than others. Stars are classified according to their apparent brightness in the magnitude of -6 to 6. Negative values indicate brightest. Sun has a magnitude of -26 or so. While Venus has magnitude of -4 making it the brightest object after Sun and Moon. Let’s check which stars are visible in Surat tonight in the order of their magnitude.
Venus is visible after Sunset. To spot Venus look at towards North-West sky after Sunset. It will be shining bright enough to be seen in the dusk. It’s called as evening star. Mars, Jupiter and Saturn are visible after midnight in the east. So in the evening Venus is the only planet visible this week.
Sirius is the brightest star. Today if you spot Venus and continue to look around in the sky after Sunset, then possibly the second object you will see is Sirius. It is nearly at the same altitude as Venus but towards the West.
Star
Visibility
Position
Sirius
Visible
Towards West after Sunset
Canopus
Barely visible
Near horizon towards South. Goes below horizon after Sunset.
Rigil Kentaurus
Visible
After 9 PM towards South.
Arcturus
Visible
Rises in the East after Sunset & shines brightly whole night
Vega
Visible
Rises after 9:30 PM in the North-east sky.
Capella
Visible
Visible after Sunset nearby Venus till 9PM or so.
Rigel
Barely Visible
Follows Sunset and visible near horizon for sometime.
Procyon
Visible
Shines brightly high in sky after Sunset. Visible till midnight.
Achernar
Not visible
Below horizon in South whole night
Hadar
Visible
Rises barely high enough in the south sky after 9PM. But is bright enough to be spotted.
Altair
Visible
Visible near midnight through all night. Rises from East follows Arcturus path.
Acrux
Visible
Just slightly above the horizon in exact South. Cannot see if you have buildings around you.
Aldebaran
Barely visible
Almost about to set near horizon after Sunset.
Antares
Visible
Rises after 9 PM in the South-East sky. My favorite this month. Brightest in Scorpius constellation
Spica
Visible
Passes overhead. Visible all night. Brightest in Virgo constellation
Pollux
Visible
Visible above Venus along with Castor.
Fomalhaut
Barely visible
Barely visible before Sunrise.
Deneb
Visible
Rises in the north sky after 11pm following the trajectory similar to Vega
Mimosa
Visible
Also called Becrux visible after Sunset near South till midnight. Stays close to horizon. Partners with Hadar, Rigel, Acrux, Gacrux and Decrux
Regulus
Visible
Visible overhead after Sunset till midnight in West. Brightest star in Leo constellation
So you can see many stars in the night sky after Sunset before midnight. By talking a walk after dinner you will be able to see maximum stars.
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Earth revolves around the Sun and rotates on its own axis. Moon revolves around the Earth. Since Earth rotates on its axis from West to East, the sky appears to move from East to West. This can be seen easily with the movement of Sun and Moon across the sky during the span of hours. Similarly at night, stars move across the sky. Even though stars are very far away from us and they are not in moving around us, but due to the motion of Earth on its axis it seems that stars are moving around us.
Sky moves gradually over the night. If you are into sky gazing and enjoy looking at the stars, planets and Moon, you will notice slight movement of these objects with passing of hour. Often by using camera locked onto to a particular star, beautiful star trails are captured which so how the apparent movement of stars is a beautiful phenomenon.
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Some move right while others move left. Now that we understand that stars move in the sky from East to West, you will find that when you are facing towards the North, the sky seems to move from your right hand side towards your left hand side. When you are facing the South, the sky seems to move from your left hand side towards your right hand side. This apparent movement becomes a great experience when you observe the stars from a vantage point high enough to get a good glimpse of horizon in all sides. You will feel as if there is a line passing through from the sky to your location and all stars North of it move in a certain direction and all stars South of it move in opposite direction.
South sky is light up in Surat. If you observe Scorpius constellation rise in the sky tonight from Western India, it will be coming up in the South-East sky and slowly move towards the West not rising high enough to reach overhead. While Virgo would be higher than Scorpius and too far ahead will be Leo. All this while you are facing the South. You will see many stars directly towards the South shining in groups. Hadar, Rigel and Regor are particular in this sky. Canopus is not visible in summer.
North star helps to determine the direction at night. Then if you look in the opposite direction towards the North, you will see Vega star coming up in the sky late into the night and the Ursa Major and Ursa Minor are going round about the Pole star. Venus is on the left hand side of you towards the west and it will go down the horizon.
More you look more you see. As you keep looking at the sky and your eyes get adjusted to darkness you will see more and more stars coming up like little bulbs of light
Let your eyes adjust to darkness for best experience. It will take 30-45 mins.
09:00 PM Surat
Stars in Virgo constellation
Moon is yet to rise tonight. In another 30 minutes moon will shine bright in the sky, but until then I enjoyed the view of Virgo constellation and the stars in it. As often the bright stars Spica and Porrima are easily identified. They are nearly overhead slightly towards the East. Following in near Spica towards the left, Syrma and 109 Vir are visible. Towards the top, Porrima is forming a V shape with other stars like Zaniah, Zavijava on oneside and Mineleva and Vindemiatrix on the other side.
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As the stars are above head, it is getting a bit difficult to constantly stare at them, but once you position yourself well, you can enjoy the complete picture forming an imagination of a Virgo constellation in your mind with the stars in the sky.
Another group of 4 stars forming a nearly perfect quadrilateral image in the sky near by Spica towards the South. Those are Minka, Gieneh Gurab, Algorab & Kraz. They can be mistaken for Libra constellation.
Just rising up in sky from the east is Scorpius constellation. Four stars are visible – Antares, Acrab, Dschubba and π Sco.
Towards the south now familiar Hadar, Becrux and Gacrux are visible. Some more stars of less magnitude are shining in the south sky. Menkent is visible clearly enough. Rigilkent has not come up
10:00 PM
Moonrise shining beautifully.
After adjusting for darkness I was able to see Libra constellation above Scorpius.
Let your eyes adjust to darkness for best experience. It will take 30-45 mins.
08 May 2020 09:30 PM Surat
Antares is visible. Antares is the brightest star in Scorpius constellation. The three stars in this constellation which form a line and signify claw of the scorpion image are in close proximity to the Moon. One star on the left is very near to the Moon (conjunction) in the night sky as seen from Earth, though in space all objects are too far and nothing is behind one another.
Antares is going to be in conjunction with Moon at 4 am.
08 May 2020 08:30 PM Surat
Moonrise with a yellowish taint. Shining bright in the night sky. Yellowish glow around the moon is seen. Slowly the sky is getting bright.
Regor goes down in the South-West sky. It is visible fairly bright in the South sky. Other stars are dimly visible around it.
Stars in Libra constellation
Due to close proximity to Moon in the sky tonight, it is difficult to make out any stars in the Libra constellation at this time. As the sky moves towards the west with hours passing by, they may be visible.
08 May 2020 08:00 PM Surat
Stars in Orion constellation
Orion is in the west sky and visible after sunset.
Stars in Leo constellation
After sunset Leo is rising high in the sky at zenith. Between 7-9pm it is best visible today since the Moon has not risen yet. At 8pm Leo is right above the head. Regulus, Algieba, Denebola and Chort are visible.
Stars in Virgo constellation
Distinctly visible stars in the Virgo constellation are Spica and Porrima. Even after the Moonrises, they shine bright enough to be visible. Yesterday during full moon the sky was shining bright as it was super moon. It was bright enough that light from the moon was casting shadow and it was glazing the windows, balconies and streets.
FULLMOON SKY WITH CLOUDS ON 7th May in SURAT
Another group of 4 stars forming a nearly perfect quadrilateral image in the sky near by Spica towards the South. Those are Minka, Gieneh Gurab, Algorab & Kraz. They can be mistaken for Libra constellation.
Enjoy beautiful experience of looking at Sunset and Moonrise back to back. As well as spotting Venus planet and Antares star.
WHERE In Surat, India Co-ordinates are 21.1 ° N latitude 72.8° E longitude
WHEN 7th May 2020
WHAT YOU CAN SEE
Sunset, Full Moonrise, Venus, Antares.
WHAT YOU NEED Sense of Direction, Observation Skills & Patience a lot of it.
DATE
MOONRISE
MOONSET
05-May
5:00 pm 93° E
4:30 am 271° W
06-May
6:03 pm 99° E
5:14 am 264° W
07-May
7:08 pm 105° E
5:58 am 258° W
08-May
8:13 pm 110° E
6:45 am 252° W
MOON RISE n SET TIME IN SURAT
Moon rises almost an hour late than the previous night.
DATE
SUNRISE
SUNSET
05-May
6:05 am 72° E
7:05 pm 288° W
06-May
6:05 am 72° E
7:05 pm 289° W
07-May
6:04 am 72° E
7:06 pm 289° W
08-May
6:04 am 72° E
7:06 pm 289° W
SUN RISE & SET TIME IN SURAT
Day length is 13 hrs.
To get the best experience of full moon, observe the position of Moon and Sun, from your location today onwards. Once you get the hang of the position when the Sunrises and Sunsets, while at the same time knowing the position of Moon in the sky from your location helps in getting the first glimpses of Moon as it comes out of the horizon. If you are lucky, you will see orange-red shining Moon, that looks just like the Sun.
On 7th May 2020 Moonrise happens right after the Sunset. This is because Moon is exactly opposite to the Sun in it’s orbit around the Earth. This happens on every Full Moon. Hence it is the best time to enjoy Skygazing as you will be able to see, Sunset, Moonrise, Stars and Planets in the span of 1 to 2 hours, covering your quest for a total experience.
SUNSET FROM FLYOVER IN SURAT
As you look at the Sun from 6:30 PM in the west, sky will change it’s colour from blue to orange to red to dark blue and then eventually turning black. As the Sun goes down the horizon or in our case of being in urban city like Surat, it will be behind some buildings. Only near the Tapi river or in the outskirts of city, do we have the luxury of being able to see the horizon.
Sunset between building in Surat.
Patience is the key.
Wait and watch for the Moon. It’s time to face east now. If you have observed the Moon on 5th and 6th May, you will get clarity on where it rises from in your location. If there are buildings obstructing in your vicinity, it’s better to position yourself on top of a building or move somewhere so that you can see the horizon.
Moon isn’t visible right away. Even though Moon comes above the horizon, it is not visible to us due to pollution in city as well as the luminance is not at it’s maximum. Once it goes up around 10° above the horizon, it can be easily spotted. If you are lucky to be in the right place and have keen observation, you may be able to see it below that point as well.
Moonrise in Surat
Moon is magic. Once you see the first glimpse of Moon rising behind the trees or dark clouds or some far off houses, you will be captivated in the magic. It takes around 15-20 mins for the Moon to be clearly visible. So in this case it will be around 7:30 PM you can be sure to get a clear glimpse. To be able to see before that luck is needed.
Feel spiritual vibes while skygazing on Buddha Purnima.
Moon changes it’s colour as it comes up in the sky. When you first see the Moonrise, it may shine bright red, dark red or pinkish in colour. As it goes up it certainly changes from being red to being yellow and then as it goes up in the sky it changes to its popular full moon white bright colour. If you cannot see the Moonrise, you just have to wait until it has gone around a building or rise past some obstruction for it to be visible from your balcony, window, terrace or house.
Look for planets and stars as well. As you wait while Moon is rising or once it has been seen until your heart is filled with joy, happiness and serenity, you can look for VENUS which will be visible in the West. Also you can look a bit towards the South-East near the horizon or a bit high up by 9pm, to be able to see ANTARES.
Feeling hungry is common. You may get tired by constant gazing of sky from 6:30 PM till 8:30 PM, so it is better to keep some light snacks with you as well as sufficient water. It is best accompanied with some light music. By the time you are done with looking at all the shining objects in the sky, you will be hungry for your dinner, so go and grab something to eat.
Wonderful experience. Looking at the sky on any given day or night is a beautiful experience but when you have a lot happening on a single night within a span of hours then it’s the best experience. Enjoy sky gazing with your friends or young children.
Looking at Moonrise on a Full Moon is captivating experience that you can never forget.
On 7 May 2020, the distance of Moon from Earth is around 3.59 lakh km, while on 15 May 2020 it goes far off 4.0 lakh km. Moon comes close to Earth that’s why it appears bigger than usual and the Full Moon is sometimes referred to as super-moon.
Let us know how your experience was in the comments section below. Feel free to ask any questions related to Full moon or sky-gazing in general. Share your view and share it with your friends.
