Tiangong to Illuminate the Night Sky Over the East Coast This Week

China’s Tiangong space station, with a three-astronaut crew, will be visible to the naked eye from parts of the U.S. East Coast this week as it zips around Earth in a roughly 90-minute orbit. Some passes can reach about magnitude -2 (bright, comparable to Jupiter, but not as bright as the ISS); best viewing is about an hour or two after sunset or before sunrise. The article lists the brightest passes over New York City from Sept. 2–9, with high elevations up to around 88 degrees. Tiangong should appear as a steady, bright point moving across the sky without flashing lights and may briefly disappear when it passes into Earth’s shadow. The station, meaning Heavenly Palace, is smaller than the ISS but remains a striking skywatching target for amateur observers.