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57mm
28th Feb 2020, 08:35
In the back garden at 0515 (couldn't sleep, let the dog out). Clear sky, so gazed up at the plough. Spotted traffic moving eastwards at high level, in what looked like radar trail at approx 3nm spacing, some 20 of them. No contrails, little noise. Single steady white light under each aircraft.

Any ideas?

Tashengurt
28th Feb 2020, 08:43
Starlink satellites?

ORAC
28th Feb 2020, 08:51
Indeed, if you check their orbital path they passed directly overhead.

https://www.satflare.com/track.asp?q=starlink#MAP

ORAC
28th Feb 2020, 08:59
Video of Starlink Satellite train.

https://youtu.be/l58nWIvyYs0

superplum
28th Feb 2020, 09:23
In the back garden at 0515 (couldn't sleep, let the dog out). Clear sky, so gazed up at the plough. Spotted traffic moving eastwards at high level, in what looked like radar trail at approx 3nm spacing, some 20 of them. No contrails, little noise. Single steady white light under each aircraft.

Any ideas?

A11 closed again?
;)

57mm
28th Feb 2020, 09:44
Thanks Guys, sure is a lot of stuff up there......

logansi
28th Feb 2020, 09:54
Thanks Guys, sure is a lot of stuff up there......


Space X is planning over 3000 of them.

derjodel
28th Feb 2020, 10:16
Space X is planning over 3000 of them.

A few years ago, in a summer night, I was laying on the grass with my daughter, watching the sky, counting the meteors.

An experience she won't be able to share with her kids. :(

mickjoebill
28th Feb 2020, 10:28
Space X is planning over 3000 of them.

It has recently applied for additional licences for 10x that number!

mjb

chevvron
28th Feb 2020, 10:31
A few years ago, in a summer night, I was laying on the grass with my daughter, watching the sky, counting the meteors.

An experience she won't be able to share with her kids. :(
When I was young back in the '50s, the Meteors out of Bovingdon used to frighten me with the out of sync wailing nose they made.
Wossat; different Meteors?:{

ORAC
28th Feb 2020, 10:46
Nostalgia’s not what it used to be.....

Auxtank
28th Feb 2020, 10:49
It has recently applied for additional licences for 10x that number!

mjb

We've made hell on Earth - now we're making it up there.

logansi
28th Feb 2020, 10:53
At least they might drive the NBN out of business. And if they do achieve their actual goal of funding space flight to Mars, as a space nerd i'm slightly ok with it.

Cough
28th Feb 2020, 11:27
Taking the beauty out of the stars IMHO...

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!
28th Feb 2020, 12:30
What's the point of releasing them all at once? Shouldn't they be scattered around the globe? like a GPS constellation?

(assuming they're all part of the same thing)

ORAC
28th Feb 2020, 13:53
What's the point of releasing them all at once? Shouldn't they be scattered around the globe? like a GPS constellation?

(assuming they're all part of the same thing)

They’re released at the same time in a string and kept in low orbit whilst they are individually checked out (I believe they couldn’t contact 3 out if the first 60).

Those that are dead will relatively quickly decay and renter. The others will be separated into their correct spacing by lowering and raising them by +/-300m and then raised into their final 550km planned orbit for the first 1600. Up to 42,000 satellites are planned in various shells.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceX_Starlink

Movie just covers the initial 12,000 satellite shell with an inclination of 53 degrees.

https://youtu.be/giQ8xEWjnBs

EEngr
28th Feb 2020, 14:49
Video of Starlink Satellite train.
They should have painted the first one red.
"You see sweetie. There really is a Santa Claus."

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!
28th Feb 2020, 16:59
what they COULD have done is spread them out like a dot matrix printer so they spelled SPACE-X

THAT would have been cool

ORAC
28th Feb 2020, 17:46
Maybe they did it in morse code.......

weemonkey
28th Feb 2020, 20:29
A few years ago, in a summer night, I was laying on the grass with my daughter, watching the sky, counting the meteors.

An experience she won't be able to share with her kids. :(

I'm sorry to hear of your daughters condition.

weemonkey
28th Feb 2020, 20:33
Taking the beauty out of the stars IMHO...

Progress towards the Human Solar System Empire.

However I understand how you feel, LP has actually magnified here in the Carse; my C8 has a struggle on it's hands now...however..

p134KP4GMGY

hugh flung_dung
28th Feb 2020, 21:10
Discussed here: https://www.pprune.org/military-aviation/629671-strange-lights-sky.html

Speed_Alive_V1
29th Feb 2020, 16:42
En route ATC here - had a private jet at FL410 report seeing this, this morning. I had read this thread yesterday, knew exactly what he was describing. Nice to put his mind at ease explaining what he was seeing :p