Why did the space station just fade out from view last night?

Question

We watched the ISS go by last night over Los Angeles. It started in the NNW sky and flew overhead. It was really bright.
As it got to the SE sky it just went from super bright to gone in just a few seconds. I don't think it got really get dimmer from distance because of how fast it just disappeared. Can anyone tell me why it was there one second and then...poof...gone? It was nowhere near the "horizon".

Answer 1

It flew into the earth's shadow.

Look at it this way: From your point of view on earth, the sun had already set. But from the astronauts' point of view, 200 miles overhead, they were high enough to see around the "corner" of the world, and they could still see the sun shining. (Or more to the point--the sun was still illuminating their spacecraft, making it visible to observers).

But even from up there, the sun was fairly low on their horizon. As they continued flying eastward around the earth, the sun seemed to get lower (due to them going around the corner, not due to any real motion of the sun), until finally their sun "set" (in other words, the sun became blocked by the earth).

What you witnessed was the sun "setting" on the ISS. With no more sunlight to illuminate it, it became invisible.

This doesn't happen every time you see the ISS; usually only during passes that are fairly late in the evening. During early-evening passes, you usually can see the ISS go all the way to the eastern horizon while still in sunlight.

During early morning (before sunrise) passes, the opposite happens. In that case, the ISS is flying TOWARD the rising sun. So you'll sometimes see the ISS suddenly appear high in the sky, as it flies OUT of the shadow and INTO the sunlight.

Answer 2

All satellites are visible only because they reflect sunlight. So, they have to see the sun in order for you to see them.

The reason you are in darkness and they can see the sun is that from their altitude the horizon is much much further away and therfore they see the sun even though it is set for you. It's easy to understand if you draw a diagram.

Even from an airliner you can still see the sun when it has set for people on the ground.

But eventually, even the ISS will move into night. Obviously, you will never see ISS in the middle of the night.

Answer 3

Seeing the ISS depends on the glare coming from sunlight. When the station crossed into the Earth's night-time shadow, it lost its luster and disappeared.

Best views are at dusk.

Answer 4

It moved into the Earth's shadow. The astronauts on the space station saw the Sun set at the moment you on the ground saw the space station fade out.

Answer 5

The ISS flew out of the sunlight into nighttime.

Answer 6

it happens in reverse in Idaho most of the time. it just pops up high in the sky instantly bright and fades as it moves along. then sometimes it appears slightly dim low in the west and gets real bright overhead then fades I think as the distance grows from my vantage point. i understand why it happens but it is strange to watch.

Answer 7

They forgot to pay the Electric bill and they were cut off ?? hehehe

Answer 8

anything blocking the lights from view would cause it to 'disapear'....even if the things blocking the lights were too small to see.....there could have been some cloud vapor or something?