Where to spot 'Santa' in the skies this Christmas
By The Editor
20th Dec 2020 | Local News
It's nearly time for Santa and his reindeer to begin their tour of the country, delivering presents to well-behaved children.
Santa will take to the skies on a whistlestop trip around the UK on Christmas Eve – but he is so speedy that sightings are rare.
In case you miss him, keep a lookout for the International Space Station, which is visible over Godalming this December.
It will appear as a bright light moving quickly in the skies above, so you can tell the children that it is Father Christmas himself if you are lucky enough to catch a glimpse of it on Christmas morning.
How to spot the ISS.
If the weather is good, 'Santa' will look like a shooting star or brightly lit, fast-moving plane. The optimum viewing time is usually within a couple of hours of sunrise or sunset, when the sun reflects off the space station and contrasts against the darker sky. There are plenty of opportunities to spot the ISS this year, but you'll need to be an early bird as the sightings this month are all in the morning. Two of the best chances are on December 23rd and Christmas Day, just after 7am, when it will be visible for a full five minutes. So get your compasses out and go find Santa! For a full guide on how to spot the space station, visit Nasa's website. Facts about the International Space Station.The International Space Station is a NASA research facility and the largest man-made object in the sky.
It orbits our planet every 91 minutes.
At 357ft end to end, it's almost as long as a football field and weighs 925lb, the equivalent of 320 cars.
The space station draws its power from an acre of solar panels and has a crew of six astronauts living there.
It moves at four-and-a-half miles per second, or 17,500 miles per hour, at an altitude of more than 200 miles above the earth.
Your photos.
Please get in touch if you spot the space station over Godalming.You can also upload pictures to our Facebook page.
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