+Max and 99 Posted November 15, 2019 Share Posted November 15, 2019 (edited) I know the chances are slim, but I'm hoping to catch a pass of the Starlink parade before they separate and are on their own. It's not looking great, but I'll try. Has anyone seen other satellites? I know I'm not the only one who has seen another satellite while watching for the ISS. Edited November 15, 2019 by Max and 99 Quote Link to comment
+Max and 99 Posted November 24, 2019 Author Share Posted November 24, 2019 Amazing!! Bad weather last week kept us from looking. We set the alarm for 5:15 a.m. this morning and headed out for a dark NE view of the sky. Temperature was 36°F and my glasses kept fogging up. Brrr. From 5:33 am to 5:56 am we observed the Starlink2 satellites passing overhead, most near the Little Dipper. The first satellite appeared about 52° altitude. The first several satellites appeared one at a time but eventually we saw 11 satellites in a train (that was amazing to see!). The last few had a close brush with Polaris. The magnitude was about 2.8. In total we saw dozens of the Starlink2 satellites. The train was the best part! 3 Quote Link to comment
+Max and 99 Posted April 22, 2020 Author Share Posted April 22, 2020 Today's Starlink launch was amazing. Now is the time to start checking heavens-above for viewing opportunities! Quote Link to comment
+8Nuts MotherGoose Posted April 23, 2020 Share Posted April 23, 2020 17 hours ago, Max and 99 said: Today's Starlink launch was amazing. Now is the time to start checking heavens-above for viewing opportunities! My brother was sitting in his outdoor hot tub in northern Illinois and saw a Starlink train pass over. He asked on Facebook what they were. I explained. I have a Starlink train of 60 coming right toward me on April 30 out of the NW. They should have been about 85° but the first one enters the Earth's shadow at 61° to the NW at 9:20 pm. At 9:23:30 the middle of the train enters the shadow at 50°, and the last of the train enters the shadow at 30° at 9:33 pm. An interesting note is the last one is 2.5 minutes behind the previous one. The last 11 hit shadow below 45°. Quote Link to comment
+RocTheCacheBox Posted April 23, 2020 Share Posted April 23, 2020 Looks like I may have a chance on Friday and Saturday night. Weather permitting, which is iffy right now. Thanks for the reminder! I've been an astronomy buff all my life and observed satellites countless times. People don't realize that you can watch the night sky for a few hours and sometimes see several. Quote Link to comment
+Crow-T-Robot Posted April 23, 2020 Share Posted April 23, 2020 I love viewing satellites. I've seen Starlink 3 pass over a few times now and it's cool but haven't been lucky enough to have clear skies when 4 & 5 were going to be visible. You can install the Starlink app on your phone to view dates and times when any of the Starlink satellites are estimated to be visible at your location. Quote Link to comment
+Max and 99 Posted April 24, 2020 Author Share Posted April 24, 2020 Times are being posted for early next week. for those of you in Oklahoma, Tuesday night's going to be a great opportunity to watch the starlink satellite train. it's going right over me about now but the problem is it's in the shadow so we can't see anything. Soon! Quote Link to comment
+Max and 99 Posted April 27, 2020 Author Share Posted April 27, 2020 Keep an eye on those site updates! Quote Link to comment
+Max and 99 Posted April 28, 2020 Author Share Posted April 28, 2020 A geocacher 15 miles north of me saw so many satellites in the train that they lost count. We went to the lake, where we had very little light pollution, and saw a total of two. So disappointing. But tomorrow night will be an even better opportunity, so I'm hoping the weather cooperates. Quote Link to comment
+Mausebiber Posted April 28, 2020 Share Posted April 28, 2020 Maybe this site will help you identifying and watching satellites: https://www.heavens-above.com/?lat=49.3484&lng=8.6737&loc=Unnamed&alt=0&tz=CET Quote Link to comment
+bluesnote Posted April 28, 2020 Share Posted April 28, 2020 Wow, looks like they will pass by overhead tonight for me at 90º. Crazy. Quote Link to comment
+Max and 99 Posted April 28, 2020 Author Share Posted April 28, 2020 1 hour ago, bluesnote said: Wow, looks like they will pass by overhead tonight for me at 90º. Crazy. Tonight's prediction for me is very high too, increasing since the data was first published. The updates are happening pretty frequently after launch. Quote Link to comment
+Max and 99 Posted April 28, 2020 Author Share Posted April 28, 2020 5 hours ago, Mausebiber said: Maybe this site will help you identifying and watching satellites: https://www.heavens-above.com/?lat=49.3484&lng=8.6737&loc=Unnamed&alt=0&tz=CET That's the best site for tracking the ISS and the satellites. Great suggestion. My favorite part of that site is watching the live simulation of where the satellite currently is. Quote Link to comment
+Max and 99 Posted April 28, 2020 Author Share Posted April 28, 2020 (edited) We're under a Tornado Watch, with the possibility of golf to baseball sized hail. I was really hoping to see the Starlink train tonight! But this morning's ISS pass was really bright in clear skies! Edited April 29, 2020 by Max and 99 Quote Link to comment
+Max and 99 Posted April 29, 2020 Author Share Posted April 29, 2020 That was incredible!! I am speechless. I am so thankful that the skies cleared in time to watch that long train. Lightning in the South, but the train was clearly visible in the north. So amazing!! Quote Link to comment
vulture1957 Posted April 29, 2020 Share Posted April 29, 2020 thanks for bringing this up. I had the wife and stepson out to see it! Pretty cool sight. How many were in the train?? Quote Link to comment
+Max and 99 Posted April 29, 2020 Author Share Posted April 29, 2020 26 minutes ago, vulture1957 said: thanks for bringing this up. I had the wife and stepson out to see it! Pretty cool sight. How many were in the train?? About 40. I decided to look it up on Heavens Above, and they said 41. Quote Link to comment
+bluesnote Posted April 29, 2020 Share Posted April 29, 2020 Gonna try and view them in a few minutes. Surprisingly a clear night here in SoCal. I remember when SpaceX launched some of them from Vandenberg Air Force Base in central California a few years. I can usually see launches from my house as the rocket heads south towards the equator. Quote Link to comment
+bluesnote Posted April 29, 2020 Share Posted April 29, 2020 Ended up driving to a high point in my city with a great overlook. Unfortunately it got a little hazy so I wasn't able to see the entire train go by. Only saw one starlink satellite for sure, and another unknown satellite going roughly 90º angle with Starlink's path, which I thought was pretty cool. The haze made the light pollution a bit worse so what I did see was pretty dim. Looks like there will be another pass on May 3rd so hopping it won't be hazy then. Quote Link to comment
+8Nuts MotherGoose Posted April 29, 2020 Share Posted April 29, 2020 My Niece lives in Loma Linda, CA. She went out to see them with neighbors last night. They were scheduled to pass at 85°. None were seen due to haze. These satellites are about the size of a table and weigh 500 pounds. Although still gaining altitude, they are currently 100 km lower than the International Space Station. That also means they enter the earth's shadow sooner. You will also see larger changes in their flight path. You have to check the schedule almost daily. For the ISS - If it's path is NW to SE and OK City sees it at 45° SW, I will see it at about 44° NE. from Donna, TX. The schedule (at this moment) shows for Starlink-1332 on May 1, OK City will see it at 31° SW and I will see it at 44° NE. Because of the lower flight path, the altitude of view drops faster also. Quote Link to comment
+fi67 Posted April 29, 2020 Share Posted April 29, 2020 Last weekend we had the chance to see an almost perfect pass. Totally clear sky at 10 P.M. and an angle of about 50°. My eyes are not the best, but my wife could identify 57 individual light points in a perfect row (with a gap somewhere in the middle). Some days before she already noticed a similar row of bright points, slower, larger distance and 24 points. We did not know what it was then, but I guess it was an older Starlink row, maybe 4 or 5. Is there a site to identify passes of the past? Quote Link to comment
+Max and 99 Posted April 29, 2020 Author Share Posted April 29, 2020 4 hours ago, fi67 said: Last weekend we had the chance to see an almost perfect pass. Totally clear sky at 10 P.M. and an angle of about 50°. My eyes are not the best, but my wife could identify 57 individual light points in a perfect row (with a gap somewhere in the middle). Some days before she already noticed a similar row of bright points, slower, larger distance and 24 points. We did not know what it was then, but I guess it was an older Starlink row, maybe 4 or 5. Is there a site to identify passes of the past? Have you tried in Heavens Above, in the brighter satellites link, then going back to that date? Quote Link to comment
+Max and 99 Posted April 30, 2020 Author Share Posted April 30, 2020 Looks like a good pass at 8:45 tonight in central Oklahoma. Quote Link to comment
+Max and 99 Posted May 1, 2020 Author Share Posted May 1, 2020 15 hours ago, Max and 99 said: Looks like a good pass at 8:45 tonight in central Oklahoma. Nada. I think there are data issues. Quote Link to comment
+8Nuts MotherGoose Posted May 1, 2020 Share Posted May 1, 2020 I had a Starlink pass last evening at ~20:50. only 27° NE and didn't see any of them. Then at ~21:40 another train to my West flew right next to Venus at 26°. I really didn't expect to see them. Lots of haze. I couldn't see any stars much below 45°. Quote Link to comment
+Max and 99 Posted May 16, 2020 Author Share Posted May 16, 2020 New Starlink launch tomorrow night (Thanks Bon Echo for the heads-up). Heavens above has a big notice at the top about the launch. There's only a place-holder for now, but in a few days we should see data for the viewing opportunities. Just letting you know in case you missed it previously and were wanting another chance. Quote Link to comment
+Max and 99 Posted May 30, 2020 Author Share Posted May 30, 2020 Did anybody watch today's historic launch? It sure was exciting! I hope you didn't look away and miss the sparkly dinosaur. ? They talked a lot about the international space station, and watching Christina, who has set the record for the most time by a female living and working in space, was a real treat for me. Like Elon Musk said, those astronauts have nerves of steel. Quote Link to comment
+Bear and Ragged Posted May 30, 2020 Share Posted May 30, 2020 Watched the launch. Watched the ISS pass over. (5th time I've watched it this week) SpaceX was supposed to pass by 5 Minutes after the ISS, but didn't see it. (Suspect too much light pollution as I'm 'in town'.) Quote Link to comment
+Max and 99 Posted June 3, 2020 Author Share Posted June 3, 2020 Heavens above highlights their new Live Sky map so I used it tonight when the ISS passed overhead. I like it! That might be very helpful for the next Starlink launch too. Quote Link to comment
+Max and 99 Posted June 4, 2020 Author Share Posted June 4, 2020 On 5/16/2020 at 6:25 PM, Max and 99 said: New Starlink launch tomorrow night (Thanks Bon Echo for the heads-up). Heavens above has a big notice at the top about the launch. There's only a place-holder for now, but in a few days we should see data for the viewing opportunities. Just letting you know in case you missed it previously and were wanting another chance. The new group of 60 launched tonight. Fascinating to watch! The first fifth landing, on Just Read the Instructions was very exciting. Quote Link to comment
+Max and 99 Posted June 16, 2020 Author Share Posted June 16, 2020 I got to watch a true train this morning. Only 35° altitude so we almost didn't go outside. What a sight to see! They were so much closer together than my last sighting. Quote Link to comment
+Max and 99 Posted June 17, 2020 Author Share Posted June 17, 2020 Wow!! Full train above me tonight. Three of us were out looking at 4:40. So clear and long! . Quote Link to comment
+Max and 99 Posted June 26, 2020 Author Share Posted June 26, 2020 There was a new starlink launch 2 days ago so you can start watching for the train. I think this morning's ISS pass was one of the most spectacular for me. Early morning, bright as could be (-3.9), not a cloud in the sky and viewable for so long! Quote Link to comment
+Max and 99 Posted July 2, 2020 Author Share Posted July 2, 2020 Great views of the train possible tonight in Tucson and central Oklahoma. I wish I could create a waymark with my viewing partner. Quote Link to comment
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