<p>Look at the &quot;max altitude&quot; column.</p>
<p>That tells you that the ISS will be in the south-east quadrant of the sky when it is at its max altitude (to be precise, at a bearing of 143 degrees, so slightly south of south-east)</p>
<p>It will be 74 degrees above the south-east horizon (ie quite near the zenith)</p>
<p><em>But</em> at magnitude -2.3, it will be much brighter than any star, and it will be obviously moving. Spotting it will be extremely easy (if the sky is dark at 6:41pm at your location in September)</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-09-11T06:28:39.127Z
2024-09-11T18:48:34.110Z
2024-09-11T18:48:34.110Z
James K
<p>Me and my friends are trying to watch the ISS in the night sky and I need help. I cannot make sense of the numbers n2yo is giving me. Could anyone explain how this works?</p>
<p>This is what n2yo is showing me
<a href="https://i.sstatic.net/VsjlQyth.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/VsjlQyth.png" alt="This is what n2yo is showing me " /></a></p>
<p>And this is my interpretation of it (also how do you measure elevation i.e which path is correct in the drawing because there can be 2 elevations)</p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/ZiTLDSmS.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/ZiTLDSmS.jpg" alt="enter image description here" /></a></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-09-11T03:23:05.520Z
What do you get if you click the link "map and details"? Does it show a star chart? But the answer to "which path is correct" is the one that passes through the azimuth (Az) and elevation (El) listed as the maximum altitude.
JohnHoltz
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-09-11T06:29:08.727Z
If I press the map and details it shows a normal map and the path of ISS
Arnav Badhe
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-09-11T06:29:49.630Z
If you could point me to any resources about how to make sense of these numbers that would be very helpful thank you
Arnav Badhe
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-09-11T16:17:51.770Z
The Az is essentially the compass direction (0 is North, 90 is East, 180 is South, etc.)  The El seem like you understand already.  I find using the El/Az numbers better than using a star map, as many passes happen before it's dark enough to see some stars.  Also the ISS is bright enough to see in heavily light polluted areas, where many stars won't be easily visible.  So I find it best to use a compass (your phone probably has one built in) to familiarize yourself with the different directions at a given place.
Greg Miller
<observational-astronomy><amateur-observing><artificial-satellite>
How do I locate satellites in the sky using on-line predictions for my location?
Arnav Badhe
# How do I locate satellites in the sky using on-line predictions for my location?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2024-09-11)

Me and my friends are trying to watch the ISS in the night sky and I need help. I cannot make sense of the numbers n2yo is giving me. Could anyone explain how this works?

This is what n2yo is showing me
[![This is what n2yo is showing me ](https://i.sstatic.net/VsjlQyth.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/VsjlQyth.png)

And this is my interpretation of it (also how do you measure elevation i.e which path is correct in the drawing because there can be 2 elevations)

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/ZiTLDSmS.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/ZiTLDSmS.jpg)

**Tags:** observational-astronomy, amateur-observing, artificial-satellite

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: What do you get if you click the link "map and details"? Does it show a star chart? But the answer to "which path is correct" is the one that passes through the azimuth (Az) and elevation (El) listed as the maximum altitude.  
> **username_0**: If I press the map and details it shows a normal map and the path of ISS  
> **username_0**: If you could point me to any resources about how to make sense of these numbers that would be very helpful thank you  
> **username_2**: The Az is essentially the compass direction (0 is North, 90 is East, 180 is South, etc.)  The El seem like you understand already.  I find using the El/Az numbers better than using a star map, as many passes happen before it's dark enough to see some stars.  Also the ISS is bright enough to see in heavily light polluted areas, where many stars won't be easily visible.  So I find it best to use a compass (your phone probably has one built in) to familiarize yourself with the different directions at a given place.  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2024-09-11. Score: 3

Look at the "max altitude" column.

That tells you that the ISS will be in the south-east quadrant of the sky when it is at its max altitude (to be precise, at a bearing of 143 degrees, so slightly south of south-east)

It will be 74 degrees above the south-east horizon (ie quite near the zenith)

*But* at magnitude -2.3, it will be much brighter than any star, and it will be obviously moving. Spotting it will be extremely easy (if the sky is dark at 6:41pm at your location in September)


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