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If you look up at the sky tonight, you can notice a fleet of lights flying across the night sky.
But before you worry that the lights are a sign of an alien invasion, luckily there is a simple explanation – it’s Elon Musk’s Starlink satellites!
They form a constellation of thousands of satellites and are designed to provide low-cost broadband Internet service from low Earth orbit.
The satellites will be visible alongside the Eta Aquarids Meteor Shower, so if you’re lucky, you could see a shooting star passing by a satellite!
Tonight, the satellites are expected to be visible around 21:26 BST.
While its location will alter Starlink’s visibility, most viewers across the UK should be able to see it.
Here’s a roundup of the best times to view Starlink satellites this week, as well as how to track them through the night sky.
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What time can you see the Starlink satellite screen this week?
There will be several opportunities for you to view Starlink satellites from the UK this week.
The satellites will be visible in:
9:26 pm, May 4, 2020
10:01 pm, May 5, 2020
9:02 pm, May 6, 2020
How to track Starlink satellites
If you want to track satellites in real time, you can visit the Find the Starlink website.
The site allows you to view the location of the satellites in real time on a map, or enter your location to see exactly when the satellites will be visible from your home.
The results are filtered based on how bright the satellites will be, so be sure to look at the ones listed as “Bright.”
What are Starlink satellites?
Elon Musk hopes that satellites will bring low-cost internet to remote areas of Earth.
Starlink explained: “With performance that far exceeds that of traditional satellite Internet, and a global network with no limits on land infrastructure limitations, Starlink will offer high-speed broadband Internet to places where access has been unreliable, expensive or completely not available. “
However, several astronomers have expressed concern that one of the satellites may pass in front of a telescope and hide an image.
(Image: SpaceX)
In a recent study, published on arXiv, researchers led by Stefano Gallozzi wrote: “Depending on your altitude and surface reflectivity, your contribution to sky brightness is not negligible for professional observations from the ground.
“With the large number of approximately 50,000 new artificial telecommunication satellites planned to launch in medium and low Earth orbit, the average density of artificial objects will be> 1 satellite per degree of square sky; this will inevitably damage professional astronomical images “
Have you seen the Starlink satellites? Send your photos to [email protected]
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