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How do you spot a satellite? I've never seen one.

• drynewton 3y ago
  https://james.darpinian.com/satellites/ https://james.darpinian.com/satellites/ Put in your location and it will tell you when and where to look at the sky to see one. Works great for me and hopefully it will work for you.
• kirubakaran 3y ago
  The Starlink ones look like Santa's sleigh https://i.imgur.com/4S0vbfY.gif https://i.imgur.com/4S0vbfY.gif
  • qayxc 3y ago
    Only directly after deployment, though.
  • perilunar 3y ago
    Nice image. The Starlink V2 are bigger though, so fewer per launch (~15 vs ~60).
• giancarlostoro 3y ago
  Probably out in a rural area far enough away from a major city its easier to see them.
• TheAlchemist 3y ago
  It depends where you live certainly - if you live close to a big city you will probably never see them. But there are places - like New Zealand - where you can see them fairly often. There are some online trackers you can use.
  • dmd 3y ago
    I live 10 miles from Boston and I've seen them a whole bunch. I've used https://james.darpinian.com/satellites/?special=starlink https://james.darpinian.com/satellites/?special=starlink
• qwertox 3y ago
  It's usually a somewhat like a fast moving little but visible star. Fast as in it would usually cross 1/4 of the visible sky within 20 seconds or so. You should try to find one once, with the help of an app. It's not that difficult.
• latchkey 3y ago
  To me, they look like little white dots moving across the sky. Brightness can change as they move too. It'll start off bright and then as it goes away it eventually disappears entirely. Since I usually sit in the same position in the hot tub, I've come to notice that I usually see one of them cross a pretty specific path from north to south, so I've gotten used to looking in that part of the sky as I'm sitting there. It happens so frequently, I get a little disappointed if I don't see one! Planes are similar, but tend to have flashing or colored lights and obviously aren't as far away. I'm in a big city, but close to the ocean so I have a bit less light pollution. The city is also heavy military, so that could be part of the frequency. Update: if you're near any of the spacex launches, you can watch the rocket too. I'm house sitting in Irvine, CA and saw the Monday launch go right near the house. Amazing to watch the plume from the rocket!
  • aqfamnzc 3y ago
    I guess they disappear as they approach the horizon because the light is spread/absorbed too much by going through more atmosphere?
    • latchkey 3y ago
      I actually see them disappear long before they get to the horizon. My guess is just less reflected light on whatever is shiny on the satellite.
      • m2fkxy 3y ago
        that and/or entering the Earth penumbra.
        • krisoft 3y ago
          In higschool we did an experiment with one of our science teachers based on this fact. We measured the duratuon of the iridum flares and could use some basic geometry to estimate how high their orbit is based on where the shadow of the earth is. I don’t remember the details anymore, but it was one of the coolest practical experiments we did.
• qayxc 3y ago
  If the seeing is good it's actually possible to spot up hundred satellites with the unaided eye. Due to light pollution, it's unlikely to spot one in most places, though. The ISS at least should be easily visible due to its size, even in places that aren't particularly dark.
• flir 3y ago
  Even in a city you stand a chance if you've got high walls around you. A courtyard garden for example. Just lie back and stare up.
• embedded_hiker 3y ago
  The easiest satellite to see is the ISS. NASA provides times when it can be seen from any given place. I subscribe to the SpotTheStation mailing list. In general, you can see a satellite when it is overhead and illuminated by the sun. In the evening, it will appear in the west, moving towards the east ( almost all satellites go this way, not just ISS ). As it goes farther east, heading towards darkness, it will fade away. The ISS is bright enough to see a reddish tinge as it passes through sunset light. Shooting stars go much faster than satellites.
  • yencabulator 3y ago
    Yeah. With Starlink satellites, you need a lot of luck with the conditions to see them. I've seen them a handful of times and I'm in a relatively dark sky location. ISS is often visible in the middle of the day even in bright midday Southwest sun, if you know where & when to look.
• HPsquared 3y ago
  1. The satellite needs to be passing overhead at an angle where you can see it, and clear skies etc. 2. The sky needs to be dark enough to see it (so twilight or night) 3. The satellite needs to be illuminated by the sun. 4. The satellite needs to reflect enough light that you can see it. Basically this happens just before sunrise, and just after sunset. So the ground and sky are dark (allowing you to see through the atmosphere), and the satellite - being at high altitude - is still illuminated. As they pass overhead, you can often see them suddenly vanish as they pass into the Earth's shadow. The International Space Station is a good one to find, as it's quite bright (very large). There are various websites and apps; some phone apps use the GPS and magnetometer to show you what direction and time to look, and a search tool to look for visible objects at your location. It used to be really good with the old Iridium satellites, which gave a bright flash due to their large flat antennas.
  • WanderPanda 3y ago
    I remember chasing one of the iridium flares and it was very bright, even during the day
  • carlosjobim 3y ago
    In short: after sunset.
  • wolverine876 3y ago
    > Basically this happens just before sunrise, and just after sunset. I've seen plenty of satellites in the middle of the night, from very dark areas (wilderness). They look like stars, only they move more quickly. These observations go back a decade, at least.
    • burnished 3y ago
      That doesn't seem right, why would they be bright?
      • steve_adams_86 3y ago
        They reflect sunlight for some period of the evening and morning, before the sun is shining where you are and illluminating the sky too much.
• pxeger1 3y ago
  My tip is that the very central part of your field of view has worse night vision than the rest (trading off for higher resolution instead), so if you spot something moving in your peripheral vision, don’t try to look straight at it or it’ll disappear; instead, look slightly to the side, and it’ll be easier to see (although maybe blurrier).
• nativeit 3y ago
  It takes several minutes for your eyesight to adjust enough to spot them with the naked eye. You can use websites to know when one is likely to pass overhead. Choose a suitable time (see: everyone else, basically right after dusk), and then lie down and stare up about 15-minutes ahead. Mushrooms are optional, they increase the chances of seeing something but decrease the chance that what you saw was real.
• wkat4242 3y ago
  I can guarantee you you have. You probably just thought it was a star or a plane. They move but relatively slowly (even a fast LEO sat will cover the sky in about 5 minutes). They look just like a star apart from moving slowly. Depending on angles they can look pretty dim, especially the latest SpaceX sats. But the ISS is usually really bright because it's so huge and technically it's also a satellite. You can tell them apart from a plane because they don't flash. Edit: But yes there are several conditions that need to be met to see them like the other posters have mentioned. But every clear night near dusk or dawn you will see sats for sure. There are just so damn many in LEO now.
  • hengistbury 3y ago
    Some satellites do appear to flash because they are tumbling: https://www.satobs.org/tumble/tumbleintro.html https://www.satobs.org/tumble/tumbleintro.html The flashing of satellites will generally be gentler than the short burst strobing of an aircraft.