Satgen 6 Mir and the Midnight Sun. Over the next 3 weeks if the night sky is clear and starry, you may see the Mir Space Station as a bright yellow dot , taking 6 or 7 minutes to move across the southern sky, from West to East. At UK midnight GMT, the Sun is located above about Long 180 and Lat 23N, ie over the North Pacific. But it is shining over the North Pole down to Lat 68N on our side of the globe , at ground level. At Mir's height of 420 kms or so the sky is sunlit down to about Lat 47N. So throughout the short summer night, every time Mir comes above Lat 47N, it is sunlit, and makes a splendid object for UK viewers. You can also see lots of other satellites, including Salyut 7, and the giant US Keyhole 11 recon sats. Even little Uosat is visible , if you know where to look. SARUG and AMSAT have software for predicting these viewing opportunities. Listen on 19.955 MHz to tell when Salyut is going over, and check 166.122 MHz for occasional digital telemetry from Mir when it is on the eastern half of these viewing legs. Mir's orbit period is now about 92.75 minutes so each successive night it appears 42 to 45 minutes later. Binoculars are not essential , but they do help with Uosat. Because of horizon haze, you rarely see satellites until they are 15 to 20 degs above your horizon. STOP PRESS. The 435.974 MHz stranger , period 101 minutes has not transmitted since 12th May. The 105 min period stranger continues to transmit regularly. 73 de GM4IHJ 14th May 89