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For the night sky watchers

5150

5150

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SpaceX's Starlink Train will be visible to the naked eye the next couple of evenings including tonight. Saturday will be the brightest viewing. I can't tell you how neat it is to see all 60 of these satellites cruising by at the same time in close proximity to each other. The entire flyby lasts about 5 minutes however, the main group gets by in about 3 minutes.

Saturday's flyby will be nearly straight overhead so no worries about low elevation, horizon, buildings, etc. Even in light polluted locations, you should be able to see the main group.

The attached time lapse image really sucks but it gives an idea of the spacing and proximity.

If you want specifics on the flyby in your location go to either of these websites, expand the US map and drag the camera icon right on top of your house or where ever you may view from. It's not terribly important to know your exact elevation, especially for Saturday but it's important if you want to catch low horizon passes. If you have an updated version of the compass app on your iphone, just open that up, your elevation is noted (as well as your latitude and longitude).

https://heavens-above.com http://www.satflare.com https://www.calsky.com/

I drug my 14 year old out of bed last week to catch them, he was thrilled enough that he mentioned it to his Physics/Space teacher and spoke about it in front of his class. He also thanked me....that never happens lol.
Starlink Train2.jpg
 
RiverDave

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That's pretty bad ass! I'll look it up tonight!

RD
 
coolchange

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Thanks for the heads up. I got the heavens above app. Pretty cool. We do a lot of ISS spotting when we camp in the desert.
 
Taboma

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Looks like for the San Diego it's just after 6PM-ish, but then most of the Japanese posts on RDP make more sense than those maps and charts viewed for the first time. :confused:
But then one of the other links seemed to be on the SW Horizon, so we'll see --- assuming I remember to look, lol :p
 
Ziggy

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Dang, I'm on the wrong half of the globe to witness it.
 
B

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OK, tried all of your 3 links and couldn't find a ga-dam thing that told me when/where to look up! lol
Got any better, easier links for Chandler, Az??? Maybe Saturday night?
 
HCP3

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Buggydave said:
OK, tried all of your 3 links and couldn't find a ga-dam thing that told me when/where to look up! lol
Got any better, easier links for Chandler, Az??? Maybe Saturday night?
Click to expand...
Heavens Above has an app. At least they do for Android. If you are in SoCal, the will come from the SSW. Traveling N straight above you. 6:09 PM tonight.
 
DILLIGAF

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HGP3 said:
Heavens Above has an app. At least they do for Android. If you are in SoCal, the will come from the SSW. Traveling N straight above you. 6:09 PM tonight.
Click to expand...

I just went out and looked up. I live in a very dark area. I assume the 6 dealio was 7 out here in Az. Nothing
 
Taboma

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Even with binocs I couldn't see shit from No County San Diego -- but then there's a pretty bright glow to the south over the city. I might have seen one, but it moved out of sight pretty fast.
 
HCP3

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Didn't see shit. Wish I was in the desert.
 
Taboma

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HGP3 said:
Didn't see shit. Wish I was in the desert.
Click to expand...

I agree, from our Havasu place we'd have a great view and dark skies, SW of us here the sky is aglow for sure.
 
DirtyWhiteDog

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None of the apps/ websites stating what time zone that I seen
 
5150

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DILLIGAF said:
I just went out and looked up. I live in a very dark area. I assume the 6 dealio was 7 out here in Az. Nothing
Click to expand...
They weren't very bright last night. Tonight...a little better. Saturday will be kick ass.
 
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5150

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Taboma said:
Even with binocs I couldn't see shit from No County San Diego -- but then there's a pretty bright glow to the south over the city. I might have seen one, but it moved out of sight pretty fast.
Click to expand...

They do move fast. Saturday evening should be good, much brighter.
 
stokerwhore

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the international space station can be fairly easy to see at times. to find out when go here and enter your location: https://spotthestation.nasa.gov/
the best views of these things will be with in an hour and a half or so of sun rise or sun set. the sun has to be hitting them still for you to see them. the darker it is at the time where your at the better for contrast.
here's a link to viewing times for my home town:
https://spotthestation.nasa.gov/sig...gion=California&city=Westminster#.XfzKgDaWzcs

and here's the link to see what all the numbers mean exactly:
https://spotthestation.nasa.gov/message_example.cfm

"... It will also be moving considerably faster than a typical airplane (airplanes generally fly at about 600 miles (965 km) per hour; the space station flies at 17,500 miles (28,000 km) per hour)."

if you happen to be in so cal (orange county) in twenty minutes (5:48 am) look south. it will appear 11* above horizon. then pass over head and to your left and disappear in the ENE, 10* above horizon. the 5 minutes it will be visable is about as long as it can be seen in one pass. most times it's a shorter duration than that because it passes back into the earth's shadow sooner.
 
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Taboma

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Wondering, the pics I've seen of this train of satellites seems to have been shot shortly after launching and they're a series of closely spaced dots.
Is this how they still appear ?
Lower magnitude number the better right ?
At 5:25 PM Sat I hope the SW sky isn't to washed out by the city lights and only being about 40 minutes after sundown.
I'll have to check these charts when we head for Havasu. Looks like Havasu Sat night the show will be a good one starting at 6:26 PM from 10* SW to 68* SE.
 
5150

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Taboma said:
Wondering, the pics I've seen of this train of satellites seems to have been shot shortly after launching and they're a series of closely spaced dots.
Is this how they still appear ?
Lower magnitude number the better right ?
At 5:25 PM Sat I hope the SW sky isn't to washed out by the city lights and only being about 40 minutes after sundown.
I'll have to check these charts when we head for Havasu. Looks like Havasu Sat night the show will be a good one starting at 6:26 PM from 10* SW to 68* SE.
Click to expand...

Correct, lower magnitude is brighter. They do appear as dots but the spacing between them has increased since launch. A new batch goes up Dec 30th or 31st, those will be tightly grouped and very bright for the first couple of days after launch.
 
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