Although it appears to be moving slowly to you, in reality the thing is travelling at a massive 17,000 miles per hour!  The ISS is classed as being in a "low Earth orbit" only 260 miles above us, so it has to travel that fast to overcome the forces of gravity that would like it to return to the Earth.  At that speed, it only takes 90 minutes to orbit around the planet, meanwhile we have rotated a bit, so every time the ISS goes around the Earth, it appears to be in a different place.

For you to be able to see it, not only does the space station have to be passing over our part of the Earth, but its angle to the Sun has to be correct to illuminate the solar panels, else you won't see a thing!  That explains why you can only observe the ISS at dawn or dusk on certain days.

The International Space Station is the largest man-made object orbiting the Earth and is truly international, with crew members from all over the World.  After the Space Race to the Moon ended in the early 1970s, the USA and USSR carried out their initial collaboration with the 1975 Apollo-Soyuz Test Project that saw the first docking of spacecraft from two different nations.  Skylab and Mir followed and the plans for the current ISS were announced in 1993 - it started with just two modules in 2000 and has since grown to a total of 18, with the most recent being added in 2021.

I've recently mentioned "conjunctions" several times, where two objects appear to be the closest they ever get to each other.  You can also come across "occultations" where one object completely blocks another from view.

We have one of those on the early morning of Wednesday 21st, when a 97%-lit waning gibbous Moon occults Saturn.  If you look towards the south south west from 4am, you will see the pair, with Saturn just above the Moon.

At 4.28am, Saturn starts to disappear behind the top of the Moon.

Saturn begins to reappear again from behind the eastern edge of the Moon at 5.15am and by this time, the Moon will have drifted towards the south west.

You will have witnessed what is known as a "full Lunar occultation" because the Moon will have completely hidden the planet.  Sometimes the occultation is not full and the edge of the Moon appears to just graze the distant object.

Of course, because we will only be a couple of days past a Full Moon, it will be very bright and this will make it harder to see Saturn.  Binoculars or a small telescope will really show the occultation in detail. 

The Moon orbits around us at a whopping 2288 miles per hour and at that speed, it only takes 49 seconds for the Moon's edge to completely cover Saturn.....so don't look away or you might miss it!

The peak of the annual Perseids meteor shower is predicted to occur around 3pm on Monday 12th..........which isn't a lot of use as it will be broad daylight!  However there should be a good chance to see some of the shooting stars over the nights of 11th / 12th and 12th / 13th, either side of the peak.

If you are outside around midnight, the constellation of Perseus will be located towards the north east, between the horizon and the familiar "W" shape of Cassiopeia on its side.  The radiant point, where the meteors appear to originate from, is towards the top of Perseus.

If you stay up until around 2am, you will catch Mars and Jupiter rising above horizon in the east north east.  The two planets will appear to be very close together.

If you repeat this planet-spotting exercise again at 2am on Wednesday 14th, the pair will be in conjunction, or in other words, the closest they ever appear to get to each other.  Of course in reality, they are millions of miles apart from each other - it is just the angle you are looking at them from here on the Earth.

Because everything in space is a very long distance away, you only see things in two dimensions with no depth perception because relative to those huge distances, the space between your eyes is incredibly small!  When you look at things close up, then the relative distances are much smaller and your eyes give you a stereoscopic 3D view.  Try looking at the branches of trees in your garden and then some trees on the horizon - you'll see what I mean!

Let's begin with a bit of a naked eye challenge on the evening of Monday 5th August.  If you look towards the west north west just as the Sun is setting, say around 9pm, it should be possible to spot planet Venus close to the horizon.  An even harder target to see with be a 1%-lit waxing crescent Moon, located a little to the right of Venus.

Much easier targets to find any evening next week are Saturn, that rises above the east south east horizon from around 11pm, followed by Jupiter and Mars towards the east north east from 2am.

Interestingly, Saturn reaches its highest position in the night sky around 3am on Saturday 10th, when it will be located towards the south.

Astronomers prefer looking at things when they are higher in the sky because the light from them is passing through our atmosphere at a steeper angle, so there is less distortion.  Although Saturn's rings of dust are not best-placed for observing at the moment, it would be an optimum time to dig that telescope out and see how many of Saturn's numerous moons you can spot.  As a bonus, our own Moon will have already disappeared below the horizon, so it won't be causing any light pollution.

When I was at school, I was always taught that Jupiter had the most moons orbiting around it.  There are currently 95 Jovian moons officially recognised by the International Astronomical Union.  However in reality, Saturn has the most - 146 of them!  Some, like Titan, are the size of small planets; others are described by NASA as being shaped like potatoes or ravioli!

If you are up early, around 3am on Wednesday 31st July and look towards the east north east, you will be greeted by the constellation of Taurus rising above the horizon.  Taurus provides the backdrop to a triangle made by the planets Mars and Jupiter with the bright star Aldebaran in the third corner.  To the left of the triangle will be a 19%-lit waning crescent Moon and above, towards the top of Taurus, the Pleiades open cluster of stars.

Aldebaran is the alpha (or brightest) star in the constellation.  Taurus is also the location of the Crab Nebula, known as M1 as it is the first deep sky object that Charles Messier catalogued back in the mid-1700s.

The Crab Nebula is a supernova remnant, left over from an exploding star.  It is several thousand light years away from us and only has a magnitude of around +8.4 so you will need a telescope to see it.

If you missed the shadows of Europa and Io as they orbited in front of Jupiter last week, there is another opportunity to spot the shadow of a transit, between 12.30am and 3.30am in the early morning of Sunday 4th August.  You would definitely require a decent telescope though as this time we are talking about Saturn and one of its many moons, Dione.  Around that time, Saturn can be found towards the south south east.

Sunday 4th is also the time of the New Moon AND it will be below the horizon, so absolutely zero light pollution, making it an ideal time to go hunting those faint deep sky objects like the others listed in Charles Messier's catalogue.

On Wednesday 24th, if you look towards the east south east from around 11pm, an 83%-lit waning gibbous Moon will be rising above the horizon.  We will have had a full Moon on 21st, so it is referred to as being "waning" because the phases are now heading towards a New Moon at the beginning of August.  The term "gibbous" is derived from the Latin word meaning "humped" and in old English it is used to describe a convex shape.

A little above and to the right of the Moon, you will find Saturn shining at a magnitude of around +0.7 so easy to spot without a telescope.

Of course, if you have brought your telescope outside, you could have a go a trying to see the rings of dust that surround Saturn.  This will be difficult as the rings currently appear to be "end-on" to us and so very thin.  You should be able to make out some of Saturn's many moons though, like Titan and Enceladus.

Because of the way the Moon orbits around us, if you went back outside at 11pm on Saturday 27th, it would not be there!  You would have to wait until around 1am on the Sunday morning to see it rise above the horizon and this time the Moon would be towards the east north east.  The phase will no longer be gibbous and you will now see what looks like a quarter Moon.

It would definitely be worth getting up early on the morning of Monday 15th and looking towards the north east from about 3am as there are plenty of things to observe, without even having to turn your head!

The first target to spot would be the Pleiades open cluster of stars.  Slightly down and to the right of the Pleiades you will find planet Mars shining at a magnitude of about +1.0 so easy to spot with the naked eye.

If you have brought your telescope outside with you, then just above Mars, Uranus will be visible at a magnitude of +6.0  The two planets are in conjunction this morning, or in other words, the closest they appear to get to each other.  If you are using your telescope, please remember to pack it safely away before the Sun rises!

A much easier target is Jupiter, a bit closer to the horizon and to the left of the Pleiades.  Below Jupiter, you will find one of the brightest stars in the night sky, Aldebaran.

Sticking with Jupiter, if you take your telescope back out and catch Jupiter just starting to rise above the north east horizon at 2am on Wednesday 17th, it should be possible to observe the shadow of Europa and Io, two of Jupiter's Galilean moons, as they pass in front of the planet.  The event will be all over by 2.30am.

Stars and deep sky objects only appear to move because we are moving, but the planets are much closer to us and orbiting around the Sun like us.  So if you go outside again at 3am on Sunday 21st, Mars will now appear to be in conjunction with the Pleiades and Uranus will be further away from the red planet to the right.

I'm going to suggest revisiting the "Summer Triangle" which is the imaginary shape drawn between the stars Deneb in the constellation of Cygnus, Vega in Lyra and Altair in Aquila.  If you venture outside around 11pm next week, the trio of stars will be located quite high in the sky towards the east.

From a dark location, you will notice what looks like dim cloud running through the triangle.  It isn't cloud at all, rather the faint light from the multitude of stars in the middle of our Milky Way galaxy.

The Milky Way is a spiral galaxy with a concentration of (billions of) stars in the centre and arms spiralling outwards containing millions more.  If you could travel far enough into space and look back, it would resemble a spinning Catherine Wheel, albeit moving an awful lot slower than a firework!

Our own Sun is one insignificant star in one of the spirals.  The Milky Way is huge, measuring about 100,000 light years across, so it would take you that long to journey from one side to the other IF your spaceship travelled at the speed of light!

Our Solar System and everything you see in the night sky apart from other galaxies are all within our bit of the Milky Way.  If you look inwards towards the centre then you see that faint cloud in the background.  If you look outwards, the next thing you see is our neighbouring Andromeda Galaxy M31, a whopping 2.5 million light years away.  In between is.....er.....space!

Next week is a great time to go planet-spotting, beginning at around 3am on Monday 1st July.  A 25%-lit waning crescent Moon will have risen above the horizon to the east, with the red planet Mars just to the left of it shining at a magnitude of +1.0

While you are there, look towards the south east and Saturn will be easy to find, shining equally brightly.

If instead you venture outside around 3.30am on Wednesday 3rd and look more towards the north east, the waning crescent Moon will now only be 9%-lit and this time, Mars will be to the right of it.  Immediately below the Moon you will see Jupiter.  You could also try to identify the Pleiades open cluster of stars sitting between the Moon and Mars.

At the same time, a magnitude -0.1 planet Mercury will be a little below and to the left of the Moon.

Remember that if the Moon is heading towards a New Moon, then it is referred to as being "waning" and the illuminated part of the Lunar surface will be on the left.  If heading towards a Full Moon, then it's called a "waxing" phase and the illuminated part will be on the right.

Incidentally, on Friday 5th, the Earth reaches the furthest point in its orbit around the Sun.  This position is known as "Aphelion" and we will be just over 94 million miles from the Sun.  Maybe that explains the lack of summer temperatures this year!