SpaceX is creating a constellation of over 12,000 Starlink satellites in Low Earth Orbit and launches them 60 at a time on a rocket.
There are now over 1,300 Starlink satellites, so there is almost always one overhead.
This image is one of the early deployments with a group of them one after the other like a string of pearls... and there is a meteor as well to let you know that Mother Nature is watching!
"Behind the Scenes"
A Friday the 13th Horror Story
A Friday the 13th Horror Story
Starlink Swarm Attacks Leo’s Tail
Fri Dec 13, 2019 6:07am - 6-17am
190 Frames @f/1.8 3 sec ISO 800
Fri Dec 13, 2019 6:07am - 6-17am
190 Frames @f/1.8 3 sec ISO 800
I was curious to know if one could see the Starlink satellites on a bright night a couple of days after a full moon and inside the city limits. The answer is most definitely yes.
The first one began to appear 40 degrees above the Northwest horizon and they just kept coming, one after another, making a chain marching completely across the sky.
While it was a stunning sight, is it also a sign of the night sky horror to come?
If you look carefully you can see 32 Starlink satellites and a meteor, maybe lucky Geminids?
About Starlink
The goal of SpaceX’s Starlink project is to provide broadband internet access around the world from space in low Earth Orbit. They have US FCC approval for a network of 12,000 Starlink satellites and are pursuing approval for 30,000 more satellites.
That’s a huge increase over the ~3,000 satellites that were in orbit pre-Starlink!
And people have begun to notice
SpaceX launches 60 Starlink satellites at a time, they currently have about 1,200 in orbit around the Earth criss-crossing the sky above you. While SpaceX has made attempts to reduce the reflectivity of the Starlinks, they are still quite visible at night under the right conditions.
Amazing technology... yes.
A sign of progress, maybe... you get to decide.
A huge thing to clutter up the night sky... most definitely :(
Experiment!
Keep an eye out in the news for when new launches are taking place if you want to see them as a train before they spread out and move into the orbit positions.