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 21 December 5:36AM
- It will be visible for for 5 minutes above East by South East and at 7.11 AM where it will be visible for 5 minutes above East by South East.
Thursday 22 December 6:23AM
- It will be visible for 2 minutes moving from the South-South East to the East South East.
Saturday 24 December 4:50AM
- It will be visible for 1 min moving above the East.
Saturday 24 December 5.16AM
- It will be visible for 5 min moving above the 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.
Read more: Five of the best spots to get mulled wine and cider in Leeds
Feature image – Pixabey
