The ISS will be visible in the sky tonight

Image source, Getty Images

Image caption, People living in the south of England might be able to see the ISS shining brightly in the night sky!

If you live in the south of England, you might be able to spot the International Space Station (ISS) tonight!

The ISS is passing over our skies this evening, and will be incredibly bright - so bright in fact, that you'll be able to see it without any specialist equipment.

The space station will pass through a group of stars (or constellation) called Draco, which means Dragon.

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The ISS will start making its way over London - the UK's capital city - and areas nearby, at 22:39 BST, but should become visible a couple of minutes later.

Given this is quite late, you may want to ask your parent or guardian's permission to stay up to see it.

At its peak, it will be 417km (259 miles) above us, and will be gleaming at -3.8 magnitude, making it brighter than the planet Venus.

Venus is the next brightest thing in the night sky after the Sun and the Moon.

As the ISS then gets lower in the sky, its brightness will start to fade, and after roughly 22:48 BST, you won't be able to see it anymore.

Image source, Getty Images

Image caption, Venus can often be seen without needing to use binoculars

What is the International Space Station?

Image source, Getty Images

Image caption, Astronauts and cosmonauts on board the ISS sometimes have to do space walks to make repairs

The ISS is essentially a big floating laboratory.

Astronauts (people trained in the US, Canada, Europe and Japan to work in space) and cosmonauts (trained in Russia) travel 250 miles above Earth to live, work, and conduct science experiments in orbit.

In 2030, the ISS will stop being funded, and Elon Musk's company SpaceX will bring it back down to Earth.

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