ISS passes · Cologne, Germany
Visible ISS passes over Cologne
The next visible pass over Cologne starts on Friday 30 October at 06:25 local time. The station appears in the west-north-west, climbs to 21° above the horizon and disappears towards the south-south-east after 10m 05s.
Computed 29 Oct 2026 16:43 UTC from orbital data of 28 Oct 2026 11:12 UTC. Rebuilt every day.
Visible ISS passes over Cologne in the next seven days
| Date | Start | Peak | End | Duration | Max elev. | Path |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Friday 30 October | 06:25 | 06:30 | 06:35 | 10m 05s | 21° | WNW → SSE |
| Saturday 31 October | 05:38 | 05:43 | 05:48 | 10m 29s | 29° | WNW → SE |
| Sunday 1 November | 06:27 | 06:32 | 06:36 | 8m 31s | 10° low | W → S |
All times are local (Europe/Berlin), 24-hour clock. “Direction” is where the station enters and leaves the sky. Only passes where the Sun is at least 6° below the horizon and the station itself is in sunlight are listed — the ones you can actually see.
The best pass of the week is on Saturday 31 October: it starts at 05:38 in the WNW, peaks at 29° in the SSW around 05:43, and is over by 05:48. That is the one to put a reminder on.
How to watch it from Cologne
- Go out two minutes early. The station moves fast enough that a late start usually means you catch only the end of the pass.
- Face the direction in the table. On an ascending pass it travels roughly west-southwest to east-northeast; on a descending pass the other way round.
- No equipment needed. A bright pass looks like a steady white dot, brighter than any star, crossing the sky in about 10m 29s without blinking. Binoculars make it bigger but not more interesting.
- Give your eyes a minute. Look away from street lights and phone screens; the station is easy to see even from a city centre, but a dark spot makes the pass unmistakable.
- Watch the colour. Low passes near the horizon can turn orange or red as sunlight filters through the atmosphere — the same effect as a sunset, because that is exactly what you are seeing.
Why the ISS skips Cologne for weeks at a time
Seeing the station needs two things at once: it has to be above your horizon, and it has to be sunlit while your sky is dark. The station orbits at 51.6° inclination, so from Cologne (50.9° north) its ground track shifts west every orbit. For a week or two the evening passes line up with the twilight window and you get a run of good sightings; then the geometry drifts and the station is only up there during the day.
Germany's latitude means the station can pass in front of the zenith; a pass that peaks above 60° is bright enough to cast a faint shadow on a dark street.
How these times are calculated
Every number on this page comes from the current CelesTrak two-line element set (TLE), propagated with SGP4 — the same model NASA and most tracking apps use — and converted to your local horizon with a full topocentric correction. The element set used here is from 28 October 2026, 11:12 UTC. A TLE is good for a few days; over a week the predicted times can drift by a minute or so, and a reboost of the station shifts everything by a few seconds. Check the live tracker on the day itself.
Nearby cities
- ISS passes over Eindhoven (118 km)
- ISS passes over Frankfurt (153 km)
- ISS passes over Utrecht (181 km)
- ISS passes over Antwerp (181 km)
- ISS passes over Brussels (183 km)
- ISS passes over Rotterdam (204 km)
Questions
Can I see the ISS from Cologne tonight?
Yes — the next visible pass is on Friday 30 October at 06:25 local time.
How bright is it?
On a pass above 40° the station is typically magnitude −3 to −4, comparable to Venus and bright enough to be followed easily from a lit street. A 15° pass near the horizon is dimmer, more like a bright star, and easier to mistake for an aircraft — but aircraft blink and the station does not.
Does it make a sound?
No. At 400 km the station is far above the atmosphere you hear, and it travels faster than sound could carry anything towards you.
Page generated 29 October 2026, 17:43 (Europe/Berlin). Data: CelesTrak TLE, SGP4 propagation, local horizon correction.