Can I see the ISS tonight in Anchorage, AK?
No visible ISS pass tonight.
The ISS does not pass over Anchorage in a dark sky in the next 8 nights.
The next 8 nights at a glance
0 visible passesISS pass times, night by night
start · path · brightnessTonight · Wednesday, Oct 7
dark 7:55 pm – 7:41 amThursday, Oct 8 – Wednesday, Oct 14
no visible passesMagnitude is an estimate (lower = brighter; the ISS is usually between −1 and −3, brighter than any star). A pass that ends high in the sky ends because the station enters Earth's shadow, not because it sets. How we compute this.
Tiangong, China's space station
0 visible passes in 8 nightsTiangong's orbit is tilted 41.5° to the equator, so from Anchorage at 61.2°N it stays low near the southern horizon and we find no pass above 10° in a dark sky in the next 8 nights.
Seeing the ISS from Anchorage
Anchorage is at 61.2°N. The ISS orbits at about 420 km, tilted 51.6° to the equator, so from this far north or south it is seen low in the sky, toward the equator. Tonight the sky is dark enough from 7:55 pm until 7:41 am. You can only see the station when it is still lit by the Sun while you are in darkness, so passes come in the hours after dusk or before dawn.
Over the next 8 nights the ISS does not cross the sky over Anchorage while it is sunlit and the sky is dark. Its visible passes come in spells of one to two weeks, separated by quieter spells, as its track shifts against your dusk and dawn; check back in a few days.
The ISS looks like a steady, very bright star moving smoothly across the sky in a few minutes, with no blinking lights. It needs no telescope. If the times above say it fades out high in the sky, it has entered Earth's shadow: it disappears in a few seconds.
Questions
Can I see the ISS tonight in Anchorage?
No visible ISS pass tonight. The ISS does not pass over Anchorage in a dark sky in the next 8 nights.
When is the next ISS pass over Anchorage?
Not in the next 8 nights. The ISS is visible in spells; this page is recomputed every 6 hours, so new passes appear as they come into range.
Do I need a telescope to see the ISS?
No. It is one of the brightest objects in the night sky and is easy to see with the naked eye, even from a city.