International Space Station to pass in front of moon as viewed from Ireland tonight

Rare space event takes place at 8:54pm

The biggest and most expensive spacecraft ever put into orbit around Earth will pass in front of the Moon as viewed by people along a line from Dublin to Bantry, Co Cork, tonight. See map at bottom of this post.

The International Space Station (ISS)

At 8:54pm (Thursday, October 10th) the International Space Station will rise in the west and blaze through the sky towards the Moon in a spectacular sight. Astronomy Ireland urges everyone to go out and see the spectacle.

"The ISS will almost look as if it will crash into the Moon, but of course this won’t happen, as the Moon is about a thousand times further away than the space station," said David Moore, Editor of Astronomy Ireland magazine. "However, if you imagine a line drawn from Dublin to Bantry Bay in Cork, people along that line – or within 16km either side of it - can look up and see the ISS pass in front of the Moon. This is a very rare event and we want everyone who can to go out and see it!"

"Because this is so rare, we want people to send in their observation reports and photos for publication in our magazine. Email them to observe@astronomy.ie," said Mr Moore.

A map of Ireland showing where people can view the International Space Station pass in front of the Moon can be found below.

The ISS will continue to pass over Ireland every evening until October 26th, and the times it will be visible will be posted online at www.astronomy.ie/iss each afternoon.