International Space Station, train of SpaceX satellites cut through Western Washington skies

Given the cloudy weather that will typically grace Western Washington skies in May and June, the region will often miss out on exciting visual spectacles in its night skies. But thanks to clear weather early in the week, anyone awake in the wee hours of the morning on Monday and Tuesday may have paid witness to the International Space Station moving through the stars.

Debris from SpaceX rocket streaks across night sky over Washington

According to the National Weather Service, the ISS “sliced a path across our northern horizon just below Polaris (Tuesday) morning” just after 2 a.m., and then appeared again two hours later. For anyone in the Seattle area who stayed awake long enough for that second pass, they may have also seen part of a train of 60 Starlink satellites recently launched by SpaceX.

The ISS sliced a path across our northern horizon just below Polaris this morning.

"Can't keep my eyes from the circling sky
Tongue-tied and twisted, just an earth-bound misfit, I"

Yes, we've got Pink Floyd playing at the moment.#wawx #nightsky pic.twitter.com/HRfXAebMtP

— NWS Seattle (@NWSSeattle) May 11, 2021

Both the ISS and the Starlink satellites also appeared early Monday morning between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m., with clear weather keeping visibility high for stargazers in the Puget Sound region.

The Seattle area’s warm, dry spring weather will continue this week, with highs sitting in the low 70s through Sunday, with nighttime lows dipping into the mid-to-high 40s.

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