The bright streak is the ISS passing over Galway Bay – the glow on the right is from the lights in Spiddal and the two bright ‘stars’ on the horizon in the centre are the planets Venus and Jupiter, just about to set over the Clare hills on the far side of the bay. Update: For some reason, the picture above is a little squished and distorted, on my browser at least [the ISS did not actually zigzag across the sky]. Click for a bigger, unsquished version here.
It’s all happening in the sky over the last few weeks. Tomorrow, the Moon will eclipse Venus, passing in front of the planet relative to the Earth. For the last week or so, Venus and Jupiter have dominated the twilight, as they appear beside each other in the early evening.
This evening, I watched the Space Shuttle Endevour pass overhead from Silver Strand, about 3 hours before it landed safely in California. It was a a very faint light in the sky as it flew from west to east across the sky. About a minute later, a much brighter light flew in much the same direction. It was the International Space Station [ISS], making it’s second visible flight across Galway Bay of the evening. At some point today, the ISS made its 57,810th orbit of the planet and , from Galway, you’ll get to see another 10 of them over the next week or so.
You’ll just need a clear night.