As I write a Space Shuttle is docked with the International Space Station which is whizzing round the earth at an altitude of about 350 kilometres. Even as the duck flies that's a long way away. Now what if I said it was possible to photograph it from your backyard so that you can see its solar panels and living quackers, sorry quarters? Well that's what my Travelling Companion Ryszard is going to attempt later this week. Admittedly he is going to use his telescope to do it. Not easy, as he has to manually track an object that's moving at about 4 miles per second!
Anyway, if you catch at the right time, just after sunset when you are in shadow but it is still illuminated by the sun, it can be a really majestic sight. And bright! It can get about as bright as Jupiter is at the moment (it's that bright light hanging in the south about 10pm). To the naked eye it just looks like a slightly yellow point of light moving silently against the stars taking about 3 minutes to cross the sky.
Mid September is a good time to see it. The following is only a rough guide centered around Corwthorne (but it should hold true for areas around).
September 10th - around 9:00pm about 45 degrees up.
September 11th - around 9:25pm - more overhead.
September 13th - around 8:40pm - almost overhead.
Good luck!
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