1. Atlantis and ISS Space Chase

The International Space Station (ISS) is visible in Irish evening skies again until November 26. The Space Station appears as an extremely bright star moving across the sky and is an event not to be missed each evening it is visible. Not only that, this week observers will be treated to a "space chase" as the shuttle Atlantis, which launched successfully last night at 7:28pm (Irish time) approaches the International Space Station. STS-129 is on a mission to deliver various pieces of high-tech equipment to the space station and will feature 3 spacewalks. The mission will also return station crew member Nicole Stott to Earth.

For times to watch the Space Station and Shuttle, predictions are available on various websites on the internet, however to receive a text message to your phone with the predicted time it will pass over simply text SPACE to 57003. Each text costs 1 euro and proceeds help us promote astronomy in Ireland. Alternatively you can call our Newsline on 1550 111 442 after 6pm each day for the times to view. For more information click HERE. Remember each time you see any of these exciting space events in the sky to email your report to observe@astronomy.ie, we will do our best to include it in a forthcoming issue of 'Astronomy & Space' magazine.

The maximum of the Leonids meteor shower occurs tonight, November 17, and we urge all of you to go outside and count the meteors that you see. This will be the prime time for observing this phenomenon and your count will contribute to scientific data for those who study meteor showers. The Leonids, which are tiny fragments of the comet Tempel-Tuttle and are visible each year at this time as Earth passes through the stream of debris. The ZHR (Zenithal Hourly Rate) of the shower is expected to be somewhere in the region of 300 - 400 meteors. They are visible to the observer as 'shooting stars' in the night sky and occur as the tiny pieces of debris hit our atmosphere at high speed, instantly vaporising. For more information about the Leonids see the Sky Diary of our November magazine.