Gaze skyward on any spring and summer night and you’ll surely see what appears to be a star drifting slowly across the night sky. This is probably an Earth-orbiting satellite.
I should remind you that if it’s got red and green blinking lights, don’t get too excited. That’s an airplane!
Keep watch for an hour or so and you’re sure to see quite a few satellites.
I recall watching for satellites outside with my dad back in the early 1960s. Back then there were only one or two in orbit, so it was quite a thrill to see one.
Today, however, there are about 10,000 active satellites (and many that are inactive) circling our globe, so it’s pretty hard to look up at night and not see one.
A satellite will occasionally change its brightness as the angle of sunlight falling on it changes. Sometimes it will even catch a brief glint of sunlight and brighten rapidly.
And don’t be surprised if the satellite fades away entirely; if it does, it’s just crossed into the night side of the Earth.
I still enjoy watching these artificial moons as they crisscross the sky. It’s even more fun knowing in advance which satellites will be passing over tonight, then going outdoors to see them right where you expected them to be.
So how does one know when and where to look? Back in the “old days” when I began watching satellites, we relied on the local newspapers to tell us if a satellite might pass over our town.
Today, however, there are many smartphone apps you can find that provide times and locations of bright satellites, but my favorite for predicting satellite passes is the website heavens-above.com.
Visit this site and take a few minutes to register. It costs nothing, but it’ll make your future visits much more enjoyable.
Here you can learn not only which satellites are passing over your neighborhood but also astronomical information such as times of sunset, sunrise, twilight, moon phases and much more.
First, either select your town from the massive database or enter your latitude and longitude manually. Once you do this you will see a list of upcoming satellite passes coming over the next few nights.
One feature that I love comes from clicking the time of a satellite’s maximum altitude: a full sky map appears showing a satellite’s path across the familiar stars and constellations.
Now let’s say, for example, that you discover that the International Space Station or the Hubble Space Telescope will be making a bright pass tonight and you’d like to see it.
Just take the star map outdoors, hold it over your head with the directions on the map aligned with those at your location, and begin watching. As with anything celestial, it’s always a good idea to begin your watch a few minutes early.
It’s always great to see satellites pass overhead, especially when you know which ones you’re seeing.
But it’s most fun to call the neighbors outside because ISS or another satellite will be passing over in a few minutes.
When it does, you’ll look like a rocket scientist!
