Dear Tom,
Was the very bright object we saw in the evening sky Saturday–a very bright planet?
Robert Gustafson
Dear Robert,
Assuming what you saw was not a jet plane, the choices become limited since there were no bright planets in the sky Saturday evening. What you may have seen is the International Space Station, one of the brightest objects in the sky when illuminated by the sun while a location on Earth is in twilight. It just so happens the ISS was bright and low in the northern sky Saturday at 8:10 p.m., with the sighting lasting less than a minute before the ISS entered the Earth’s shadow.
The ISS usually moves quickly west to east, taking only a few minutes to cross the sky. The ISS is visible tonight at 7:45 p.m. and every evening the rest of the week except Friday.
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Tom Skilling is chief meteorologist at WGN-TV. His forecasts can be seen Monday through Friday on WGN-TV News at noon and 9 p.m.
Write to: ASK TOM WHY, 2501 Bradley Pl., Chicago, IL 60618 or asktomwhy@wgntv.com (Mail volume precludes personal response.)
WGN-TV meteorologists Steve Kahn, Richard Koeneman and Paul Dailey plus weather producer Bill Snyder contribute to this page.
