Lights out over the South East anyone ?

[SeaRenity]

After doing a few very late flights I noticed some lights and thought they were other aircraft. Flying South they appear to be over the Tasman Sea. Light intensity varies from bright until they disappear and then reappear some time later. They appear to be turning and I have counted up to 4 at time.
When I asked other pilots they too had seen them on numerous occassions. Apparently this is not new. Does anyone have any idea what these are ?

[Konyagi]

UFO’s in a racetrack pattern with varying light intensity? Appearing to fade in and out? They are (usually) starlink satellite flares.

[Kagamuga]

Ask Freddie Valentich, he had experience with lights over Bass Strait

[SeaRenity]

UFO’s in a racetrack pattern with varying light intensity? Appearing to fade in and out? They are (usually) starlink satellite flares.
Yes that is how it appears. Seen out of Bne and Ool heading South. Apparently not seen from the ground.

[Ladloy]

After doing a few very late flights I noticed some lights and thought they were other aircraft. Flying South they appear to be over the Tasman Sea. Light intensity varies from bright until they disappear and then reappear some time later. They appear to be turning and I have counted up to 4 at time.
When I asked other pilots they too had seen them on numerous occassions. Apparently this is not new. Does anyone have any idea what these are ?
Starlink constellation. It's the internet (and soon to be cellular) connectivity through satellites. Sometimes you'll see them as a close line of about 20-25 dots across the sky which are the newly launched satellites slowly drifting apart every orbit.
https://satellitemap.space/

[Xhorst]

They are inclined orbits so they will appear to change direction as they reach their southern-most latitude which is 53S for most of them.

[Icemansteeve]

We've been seeing them over the Atlantic and Pacific, usually in a racetrack which makes sense for it to be Elon.

What's been throwing us are the groups (4+) that either converge or diverge, both in the horizontal and vertical, usually very close together.

[SeaRenity]

We've been seeing them over the Atlantic and Pacific, usually in a racetrack which makes sense for it to be Elon.

What's been throwing us are the groups (4+) that either converge or diverge, both in the horizontal and vertical, usually very close together.
Thats curious . So its not just SE Aus. That is exactly what these lights do . It takes away the symmetry. Its hard to imagine satellites manoeuvring in this way. The changing light intensity between the lights is also a variable.

[megan]

Long thread running here.

https://www.pprune.org/rumours-news/649920-light-show-between-40-30-west.html

[belowMDA]

Yeah I’ve seen them. I couldn’t logically explain them. Not the starlink train. Changing track right to left and on different occasions left to right. Different intensities. Spotted westbound over the Tasman on Auckland Melbourne and Auckland Sydney tracks.

[RampDog]

https://youtu.be/NzlG28B-R8Y?feature=shared

[TimmyTee]

Please just listen to the much more knowledgeable people: they’re Starlink satellites crossing near the horizon with sunlight hitting them at maximum reflection, hence the fade in and fade out.

Its not aliens or secret squirrel military stuff.

[RampDog]

Even the most educated and professional people just want to believe.... it's all a conspiracy bwahahahaha :}
https://youtu.be/_9KV4ESQ8HU?feature=shared

Anyways, it's on YouTube so it must be true!
https://youtu.be/dO83KdlMSMY?feature=shared

[CaptCloudbuster]

Please just listen to the much more knowledgeable people: they’re Starlink satellites crossing near the horizon with sunlight hitting them at maximum reflection, hence the fade in and fade out.

Its not aliens or secret squirrel military stuff.

I’ve seen them over the Southern Ocean near midnight local time. How would the knowledgeable people explain the timing of that?

[MickG0105]

I’ve seen them over the Southern Ocean near midnight local time. How would the knowledgeable people explain the timing of that?
At what time of the year? Presumably sometime between say October and March?

[CaptCloudbuster]

Genuinely can’t remember. The links to other threads on this subject provide some plausible explanations re starlink. Still not convinced however.

[MickG0105]

Genuinely can’t remember. The links to other threads on this subject provide some plausible explanations re starlink. Still not convinced however.
Seeing a satellite illuminated by the sun when you're in darkness is a matter of trigonometry that is to a large part dependent on the altitude of the satellite and how far the observation point is from the day/night terminator. I can recall reading somewhere that for Starlink orbits, the distance to the terminator is 2,000 km or so. Given the Earth's inclination, that means that depending on the time of the year, at far southern (and northern) latitudes it is possible to see the Starlink trains at times like midnight.

[Xhorst]

Thats curious . So its not just SE Aus. That is exactly what these lights do . It takes away the symmetry. Its hard to imagine satellites manoeuvring in this way. The changing light intensity between the lights is also a variable.

No, it's not just SE Aus, it's global. Anywhere you can see a satellite approaching/departing 53 deg lat you can see them appearing to behave in this way.

They are not manoeuvring. They are in an inclined orbit which takes them to 53 lat and then away again. It might look like they are manoeuvring but they are not. They are in an inclined orbit which takes them to 53 degrees latitude. Different intensities can be explained by the solar reflection off their solar panels.

Yeah I’ve seen them. I couldn’t logically explain them. Not the starlink train. Changing track right to left and on different occasions left to right. Different intensities. Spotted westbound over the Tasman on Auckland Melbourne and Auckland Sydney tracks.

They are not changing track, they are in an inclined orbit which may make them look like they are changing track. Different intensities can be explained by the variation in solar reflection off their solar panels.

As I said earlier:

They are inclined orbits so they will appear to change direction as they reach their southern-most latitude which is 53S for most of them.

You can see them all here: https://beta.starlink.sx - the bulk of them are in the 53 deg inclined orbit but a few are in different orbits. The so-called "polar" orbits are actually 97 deg inclined orbits which are slightly retrograde and are chosen due to the way they will cross the same points at the same time each solar day (also known as heliosynchronous orbits). This was done to attempt to provide service to polar regions with sat-sat laser links which needed ground uplink at some point in the orbit. There is always a chance you might see one of these sats at the same time which might persuade you that these sats are defying the laws of newtonian motion. They aren't.

[SixDemonBag]

So…you’re saying they are on an inclined orbit?

[SeaRenity]

So everything is ok with these lights? .Has any official body ever given these events an official verdict ! Official bodies been contacted and asked for an explanation ?
Or is this just pprune speculative space scientists explaining these lights.

[morno]

So everything is ok with these lights? .Has any official body ever given these events an official verdict ! Official bodies been contacted and asked for an explanation ?
Or is this just pprune speculative space scientists explaining these lights.

They’re satellites dopey. They keep an eye on the chemtrail distribution from high flying airliners.

[flopzone]

Dont feel too bad. I watched a light head towards me once then off to my left one night when I was stargazing. Long story short through the 20 x 50s I could see an onion shaped plume as though I was now looking up the tail pipe of a rocket. Nothing on radar no recent launches wasnt a satellite either. Was moving faster than the speed of an aircraft based on my calculations about 150k away as that is the maximum distance I can see an aircraft light at night.
I think all sorts of Military exercises and tests take place all time at night.
I would put what you seen down to aircraft operating from an Aircraft Carrier.

[Hollywood1]

They're seen in the northern hemisphere as well. I've seen them both East and West bound between SYD and PER.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jreMROj0Rwk

[CaptainMidnight]

Great photo - and hover your mouse over it:

Astronomy Picture of the Day (https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220614.html)

[WOOLLY]

Saw them last night, in the south west of NZ.
Although they look unworldly, nothing indicates to me they are nothing more than Musks satellites catching the sun. If you have a stationary star in the mix, it gives the illusion of the stars moving randomly. Their speed and direction are too uniform (slow) to get me excited about 'visitors'. I see them regularly in different places flying at night.
Like I have always said, if you have the technology to travel through solar systems, you will have the technology to be stealth. Not travel around with the sun reflecting off you or flashing lights like a lot of UFO sightings claim.