During Christmas, there’s anticipation in the air as little (and not so little) ones up and down the country excitedly await the arrival of Santa.
Cookies are laid out, alongside glasses of port and mince pies, as well as a carrot for his trusty reindeer. Then it’s a waiting game, as we all try to sleep and battle off intrusive thoughts like ‘has he come?’ until the morning.
Only this year, there’s an extra thing to get excited about. NASA has revealed that early birds will be able to get a faint glimpse of Santa’s sleigh in the night sky as he passes over Leeds before completing his rounds on Christmas Eve morning.
NASA has given us an exact time to look up at the stars to spot the main man himself and catch the glimmer of lights from his sleigh.
NASA has said: “It is the third brightest object in the sky and easy to spot if you know when to look up
“Visible to the naked eye, it looks like a fast-moving plane only much higher and travelling thousands of miles an hour faster!”
NASA explains how you can tell it is the space stations rather than a plane because it will not change direction and will not have flashing lights.
It will be visible to the naked eye at specific times over the coming week, so if you’ve got some early risers in your house why not get together and see if you can spot Santa for yourself?
To be sure it’s him, and not a plane, make sure there are no flashing lights and it doesn’t change directions.
Santa’s sleigh will be visible in the coming days at these times:
Wednesday 20 December 6.41am
- It will be visible for for six minutes appearing from the South West and disappearing in the East
Thursday 21 December 5.53am
- It will be visible for four minutes moving from the South-South West to the East and then again at 7.28am for seven minutes moving from the West South West to the East
Friday 22 December 5.08am
- It will be visible for two minutes moving from the South East to the East and then again at 6.41am for six minutes moving from the West South West to the East
Saturday 23 December 5.55am
- It will be visible for four minutes appearing from the South and moving to the East, and then again at 7.29am appearing in the West and disappearing in the East
Sunday 24 December 5.09am
- It will be visible for two minutes, moving from East South East to East, and then again at 6.42am appearing from West South West and disappearing in the East
Monday 25 December 5.56am
- It will be visible for three minutes moving above the East from the South, and then again at 7.29am for seven minutes travelling from West to East South East
To help you spot the Space Station – or Santa’s sleigh -you can download the ISS tracking app on the App Store or you can also visit NASA’s website.
Feature image – Pixabey
