ISS orbital path

[Swoop1]

I thought the ISS orbited in an west to east direction but, tonight at about 22:10 (very about) I saw what looked to be the ISS passing overhead in a more NW to SE if not NNW to SSE direction?

[maw lod qan]

I see it often and it's almost always NW to SE. 

Been trying to image it using prime focus with my Canon,  but am still in the learning curve period. Oh my does it scoot across the sky. No time for any adjusting of ISO or shutter speed.

I would (I hate using this word) assume, that course makes it fly over the entire Earths surface at some point. 

I don't know about you, but it gives me a thrill every time I get to see it!

[Swoop1]

I love watching it pass. I would like to try imaging but I haven't got a clue as to how best to proceed.

[Gina]

I've captured it with my all sky camera.

[Freddie]

Click on the date to get a star chart and other pass details.

 

Date	Brightness	Start			Highest point			End			Pass type
	(mag)	Time	Alt.	Az.	Time	Alt.	Az.	Time	Alt.	Az.
22 May	-3.8	00:05:32	10°	W	00:08:55	83°	N	00:11:28	16°	E	visible
22 May	-2.6	01:42:16	10°	W	01:44:15	29°	W	01:44:15	29°	W	visible
22 May	-3.7	21:39:34	10°	WSW	21:42:52	60°	SSE	21:46:12	10°	E	visible
22 May	-3.7	23:16:11	10°	W	23:19:32	81°	N	23:22:55	10°	E	visible
23 May	-3.8	00:52:54	10°	W	00:56:01	60°	SW	00:56:01	60°	SW	visible
23 May	-3.7	22:26:48	10°	W	22:30:10	84°	N	22:33:33	10°	E	visible
24 May	-3.9	00:03:31	10°	W	00:06:53	78°	SSW	00:07:59	40°	ESE	visible
24 May	-1.3	01:40:26	10°	W	01:40:46	12°	W	01:40:46	12°	W	visible
24 May	-3.8	21:37:26	10°	WSW	21:40:47	87°	S	21:44:09	10°	E	visible
24 May	-3.8	23:14:09	10°	W	23:17:31	89°	N	23:20:02	17°	E	visible
25 May	-2.4	00:50:55	10°	W	00:52:50	26°	WSW	00:52:50	26°	WSW	visible
25 May	-3.7	22:24:46	10°	W	22:28:08	82°	N	22:31:30	10°	E	visible
26 May	-3.6	00:01:29	10°	W	00:04:44	50°	SSW	00:04:56	49°	S	visible
26 May	-3.6	21:35:21	10°	W	21:38:43	81°	N	21:42:04	10°	E	visible
26 May	-3.8	23:12:04	10°	W	23:15:24	66°	SSW	23:17:04	27°	ESE	visible
27 May	-1.4	00:49:11	10°	W	00:49:53	13°	WSW	00:49:53	13°	WSW	visible
27 May	-3.8	22:22:40	10°	W	22:26:01	82°	SSW	22:29:13	11°	ESE	visible
27 May	-2.5	23:59:31	10°	W	00:02:02	27°	SW	00:02:02	27°	SW	visible
28 May	-3.2	23:09:59	10°	W	23:13:09	39°	SSW	23:14:13	29°	SSE	visible
29 May	-3.5	22:20:30	10°	W	22:23:48	54°	SSW	22:26:25	15°	SE	visible
29 May	-1.5	23:58:00	10°	WSW	23:59:14	14°	SW	23:59:14	14°	SW	visible
30 May	-2.2	23:08:05	10°	W	23:10:43	21°	SW	23:11:27	20°	SSW	visible
31 May	-2.7	22:18:25	10°	W	22:21:25	31°	SSW	22:23:42	15°	SSE	visible

Last nights pass is shown at the bottom of the table below, so it went west to south south east.

[The Admiral]

This site http://www.isstracker.com shows a nice visualization of the path over the earth. Which direction it is seen to travel will depend on where in the cycle we see it, bearing in mind we are at about its most northern traverse so the variation won't be vast.

Ian

Edited June 1, 2019 by The Admiral

[JamesF]

I've probably seen it track W to E more often than not.  When I saw it last night however it was definitely more NW to SE and the time before that it was somewhere between the two.

James