IS it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s the most expensive thing man has ever built.

Hampshire residents gazing up into the night sky this week may have already spotted a bright light shooting through the usual mass of stars.

But the strange object flying through the dark at speeds of around 17,000mph is not an alien invasion, it is actually the home of six astronauts.

The International Space Station (ISS) – which has cost around £100 billion to build and is not yet finished, despite having been orbiting the globe for 12 years – is visible in the skies over Hampshire every night this week and into next.

The good news is, experts say there is no need to worry about expensive telescopes or binoculars, because it is best viewed with the naked eye.

Unfortunately you have to be quick to spot it – because it is only visible for around three minutes at a time as it moves from west to east.

The ISS is passing directly overhead on its route, around 250 miles above the ground.

WHEN TO SEE IT

  • Today (May 6): 9.26pm-9.29pm; 11.01pm-11.04pm.
  • Tomorrow: 9.51pm-9.54pm; 11.26pm-11.28pm.
  • Saturday: 10.16pm-10.19pm.
  • Sunday: 9.06pm-9.09pm; 10.41pm-10.44pm.

Links...
• Track the space station live


• Space station over the UK

Derek Haselden from Solent Amateur Astronomers said: “I suspect a lot of people have spotted it going over and thought ‘oh yeah, it’s just an aeroplane’, but it’s got no strobes or aircraft lights, and makes no noise.

“It’s interesting to think there’s a few people up there, a couple of hundred miles up.

“It’s getting quite big now, because lots of little pieces have been added, and it was amongst the brightest I’ve seen ever – it outshone pretty much all the stars out there.”

Derek said although the ISS flies overhead quite regularly, but is only visible in certain conditions. Although it completes an orbit every 90 minutes or so, it can only be seen at night and when it is not in the shadow of the Earth.

He said: “It comes round every five or six weeks, but spring and autumn are usually the best times to spot it, although that still depends on the weather.

“It’s got to be dark where you are, and the space station has got to be in sunlight.”

So long as the sky is clear of clouds, it should be visible today, from 9.26pm and 11.01pm.