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NASA reveals the exact time you can see ‘Santa’s sleigh’ flying over Manchester this Christmas
Keep your eyes peeled.
Georgina Pellant -
22nd December 2022 
During Christmas, there’s anticipation in the air as little (and not so little) ones up and down the country excitedly await Santa’s arrival.
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 Manchester after completing his rounds on Christmas morning.
The world-renowned space agency 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.”
The lights from his sleigh will, coincidentally, appear at the same time as the International Space Station, which has recently become visible in the sky, but NASA says you can tell it’s his ‘sleigh’ and not a plane by because it will not change direction and will not have flashing lights.
It will visible to the naked eye at specific times over the coming days, so if you’ve got some early risers in your house why not get together and see if you can spot Santa for yourself?
Here’s when to keep your eyes peeled.
Thursday 22 December
6:23am
It will be visible for two minutes moving from the South-South East to the East South East.
Friday 23 December
4:50am
It will be visible for one minute moving above the East.
Saturday 24 December
5:16am
It will be visible for five minutes moving above the East.
To help you spot the Space Station – or Santa’s sleigh, we mean – you can download the ISS tracking app on the App Store or you can also visit NASA’s website.
Featured Image – Pixabay
