Starship catches sun tonight

Space station spotters have the chance of a close visible encounter as late winter brings excellent viewing conditions.

Auckland Stardome astronomer Warren Hurley said the sun was still setting relatively early on Earth but shone on the station as it orbited 400km overhead.

Tonight the station passes over New Zealand twice, at about 6.30pm and 8pm.

If the weather is fine, it should be visible at 6.27pm to the northeast about 21 degrees above the horizon (that's about one spread hand's breadth held at arm's length). It will disappear towards the east by 6.30pm.

About 90 minutes later it will reappear to the west at 8.01pm but move to a point slightly higher in the sky to the southwest.

It will quickly fade about two minutes later as it hits the Earth's shadow.

It takes the space station just 90 minutes to orbit Earth; it laps the planet 15 1/2 times every day travelling at roughly 27,600km/h.

Tomorrow the space station passes over the centre of the North Island at 7.08pm and will be as bright as the brightest stars (though not as bright as Venus).

For locations and times to view the station go to The Stardome Observatory website.

* 'N Sync singer Lance Bass has won the endorsement of Nasa in his bid to fly to the international space station.

The 23-year-old boy-band member is training at Johnson Space Centre in Houston. He still must reach a financial agreement with the Russian space programme.