9 June 2024
On a woodcock stroll at Hillman State Park on the night time of 13 April, we paused to take a look at a beaver pond when somebody pointed to an odd row of lights shifting silently throughout the sky. There have been greater than 20 of them, clearly man-made and form of creepy. None of us knew what they had been. The following morning I discovered they had been Starlink satellites.
This week Pittsburghers may have 5 alternatives to see this eerie phenomenon. Right here’s what they appear to be.
Notice: This group comprises about 60 satellites. These days SpaceX launches about 20 per batch.
A Starlink satellite tv for pc string could be seen solely within the few days following a Starlink Falcon rocket launch. You have to be in the best location (beneath the flight path), with a transparent sky and inside two hours of sundown or dawn.
This 5-minute video “explainer” by meteorologist Brad Panovich in Charlotte, NC, recorded in September 2023, explains the community of Starlink satellites, how the string is deployed and why you solely see them for a few days when you’re fortunate.
The place and When?
The SpaceX Starlink Satellites Tracker web site predicts when a Starlink prepare will cross overhead to your chosen location. The web site can’t predict very far upfront as a result of the calculations have to be made after a payload rocket has launched. Although the launches are scheduled, the precise time of liftoff can change.
Will the sky be clear for viewing the transit this week? To this point so good based on the Pittsburgh Clear Sky Chart. Verify the Starlink schedule above or on the net, then discover a patch of darkish sky and search for on the proper second within the route indicated.
Creepy, eh?
And based on Wikipedia, “Astronomers have raised issues concerning the impact the constellation could have on ground-based astronomy, and the way the satellites will contribute to an already congested orbital surroundings.”
Extra info: Starlink is a satellite tv for pc web constellation whose goal is to offer worldwide web protection and international cellular broadband [for a fee]. Starlink Companies LLC is a subsidiary of SpaceX which is owned by Elon Musk. Since 2019 SpaceX has launched over 6,000 mass-produced small satellites into low Earth orbit. Practically 12,000 satellites are deliberate to be deployed, with a doable later extension to 34,400.
