Satellite viewing from Vancouver on the night of 23 August 2026 is rated GOOD NIGHT: 2 visible ISS, Tiangong or Hubble passes, the best reaching 74° above the horizon.The best window for satellite spotting over Vancouver on 23 August 2026 is 05:29–05:34 and 20:39–22:55 and 03:44–03:45 and 05:17–05:22 PDT, when most satellites are still catching sunlight. Between those windows the sky is dark but the majority sit inside Earth’s shadow. Individual satellites in lower orbits can be visible a little outside these times.The best ISS pass from Vancouver on 23 August 2026 starts at 05:17 PDT, rises in the W, peaks 74° above the horizon and sets in the ENE, lasting about 6 minutes.
Planets at 9pm
At 9pm local on 23 August 2026, no naked-eye planets are above the horizon from Vancouver. Planets rise and set like the stars, so the picture changes through the night and across the year.
49.28°NLatitude
123.12°WLongitude
CSTTimezone
Vancouver (49.3°N) — the ISS can climb high overhead here, giving bright, well-placed passes.
Vancouver at 49.3°N sits just inside the ISS’s 51.6-degree orbit, so the station still passes directly overhead — which cities only a few degrees further north lose. Tiangong manages about 20° and Hubble is effectively gone at 1°. The real complication here is weather rather than geometry, and it runs backwards to most northern cities: the long nights arrive with the Pacific rain in October, and the clear, dry weather arrives in July when there is barely any darkness to use it in.
Observing notes
Evening twilight 30 minutes after sunset. Best months: late August–October and March–April, the shoulders where reasonable darkness overlaps with reasonable weather. Avoid November–February for cloud — the nights are long but the Pacific systems are relentless — and mid-June to mid-July, when the sky barely darkens.
ISS still overhead — but the clear months and the dark months barely overlap
90°Max Elevation
NW→NERises · Sets
5 minPass Length
SATELLITE SPOTTING FROM VANCOUVER
When can I see the ISS from Vancouver?
During twilight — roughly 30 minutes after sunset or before sunrise. At 49.3°N the ISS still reaches 90° and passes directly overhead. The catch is the weather: the shoulder seasons, late August to October and March to April, are when reasonable darkness and reasonable skies actually coincide. British Columbia observes daylight saving, so pass times shift an hour in March and November.
What satellites are visible from Vancouver?
The ISS at magnitude −4, overhead at 90°. Tiangong reaches only about 20°, low in the south and easily blocked by the North Shore mountains if you are looking the wrong way. Starlink trains are visible in the days after a launch. Hubble reaches about 1° and is not realistically visible at all. The AST BlueBirds pass low and want an open southern horizon — Spanish Banks is the obvious choice.
Where is the best place to watch satellites in Vancouver?
Spanish Banks is the city option, with open water south and west and downtown behind you. Cypress Mountain, thirty minutes north, puts you above the glow. Porteau Cove on the Sea-to-Sky is about 45 minutes and reaches Bortle 4 with water to the south. The Sunshine Coast, by ferry, gets to Bortle 3 and is genuinely dark once you are clear of Gibsons.
Can I see satellites from Vancouver city centre?
The ISS, yes — at magnitude −4 and 90° overhead it clears the downtown towers and beats the sky glow. Tiangong at 20° is harder from the centre, because the North Shore mountains and the buildings take a lot of the low sky. Spanish Banks or Jericho are far more reliable, and only fifteen minutes out.
Does Vancouver’s latitude make it good for satellite spotting?
For the ISS it is fine — at 49.3°N the city sits just inside the 51.6-degree orbit, so the station still passes directly overhead where Edinburgh and Glasgow lose it entirely. Tiangong is marginal at 20° and Hubble is gone. The genuine limitation is not latitude but weather: the long winter nights coincide with the Pacific rain, and the clear summer weather coincides with almost no darkness.
What is the best season for satellite spotting in Vancouver?
The shoulders — late August through October, and March into April. Those are the windows where you get enough darkness and enough clear sky at the same time, which is the scarce combination here. November to February has the long nights but persistent Pacific cloud. Mid-June to mid-July is clear and dry, and barely gets dark at all.
SPACE MIRROR WATCH
Vancouver is in the coverage zone for EARENDIL-1, the first commercial space mirror from Reflect Orbital. When operational, the steerable mirror could illuminate Vancouver during targeted passes. OrbitalSolar.ai tracks the mirror city by city →
WHAT'S VISIBLE FROM HERE
From Vancouver (49.3°N) you have access to a wide range of satellites:
ISS →Reaches 90° — directly overhead, just inside the orbit’s reach at this latitude.
Tiangong →About 20° at best — low in the south, and needs a clear sightline.
Hubble →About 1° — on the horizon. Not realistically visible from here.
BlueBirds →Low passes. Worth trying from Spanish Banks with the water to the south.
Amazon Kuiper →Faint (mag 5). Needs the Sea-to-Sky corridor or the Sunshine Coast.
BEST DARK-SKY SPOTS
Spanish Banks
City option. Open water south and west, away from downtown.
Cypress Mountain
30 min north. Height, and the city glow below you.
Porteau Cove
45 min north on the Sea-to-Sky. Bortle 4, water to the south.
Sunshine Coast
Ferry northwest. Bortle 3 and genuinely dark once clear of Gibsons.
★ BEST: Late Aug – Oct, Mar – Apr
The shoulders — enough darkness and enough clear weather at the same time, which is the scarce combination here.
✗ AVOID: Nov – Feb, mid-Jun – mid-Jul
Winter brings the long nights and the Pacific rain together; midsummer brings the clear air and no darkness.
VISIBILITY FROM THIS CITY: Hubble reaches only about 1° from Vancouver (49.3°N) — on the horizon, and not realistically visible.
Figures on this page are computed from current orbital elements and released under CC BY 4.0 — quote, republish or build on them freely with credit to OrbitalNodes.ai.
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