Whats in the sky?

There will be several options for amateur astronomers in Mississippi this week and weekend, with a couple of bright passes of the International Space Station as well as the Perseid meteor shower.  Here's the details:

International Space Station (remember times are in 24-hr format.  19h46m = 7:46pm)

Thursday, August 9, 2012

Appears      19h46m00s   0.2mag  az:217.3° SW   horizon
at Meridian  19h50m40s  -3.6mag  az:180.0° S    h:47.7°
Culmination  19h51m15s  -4.1mag  az:133.7° SE   h:58.2°
 distance: 468.9km  height above Earth: 402.9km  elevation of Sun: +0°  angular velocity: 0.92°/s
Disappears   19h56m33s  -0.6mag  az: 50.3° NE   horizon

For the Perseid meteor shower, you'll need to be up early on Saturday and Sunday morning for the best viewing, which is from about 4:30am to sunrise.  Expect meteor rates of 30-40 per hour Saturday, and more than 50 per hour Sunday morning.  Give your eyes time to adjust to the darkness, and look for meteors coming from the northeastern sky.