Starlink Satellites and How to See Them

On Thursday, May 23, 2019, SpaceX launched 60 satellites for their Starlink internet system and the small satellites have been putting on a show for people on the ground as they slowly separate and make their way to their final positions in orbit over the next few weeks.

And tonight and tomorrow, they will be passing over western North Carolina near sunset and sunrise, so we'll have a few opportunities to see them before they complete their dispersal.


Here is video from amateur astronomer Dr. Marco Langbroek of the Netherlands:

SpaceX Starlink objects train 24 May 2019 from Marco Langbroek on Vimeo.
Read the astronomer's blogpost about the video. [LINK]




Above is the ground track of a pass by the train of satellites shortly after 10 pm tonight. The satellites will be around magnitude 4 or 5, so they'll be a little faint, but should be well worth the effort to see them.

You can look up future passes for yourself at N2YO.  On the website, times are in 24 hour format, so, if the time is greater than 12, the time is in the pm and you can subtract 12 to find the time. For example, the pass time starts at 22:02 (10:02pm) from the southwest and reaches maximum altitude almost overhead at 22:07, or 10:07 pm and then the pass ends around 212:12 (10:12pm) in the northeastern section of the sky. Pass altitudes are given in degrees (°). All you have to remember is 90° is directly overhead and 45° is halfway up the sky.

If you have location sharing turned on, the website will load with all the information you need to see these satellites pass overhead.

Curious Elephant Explains Starlink in the video posted below:




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Published at 8:22pm on Sunday, May 26, 2019