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SpaceX's Starlink satellites are visible across western Europe — here's why and how you can spot them flaring in the night sky

SpaceX's Starlink satellites are visible across western Europe — here's why and how you can spot them flaring in the night sky

Shona Ghosh

A Starlink satellite moves across the night sky over Saltburn on April 20, 2020 in Saltburn By The Sea, England. Owned by billionaire CEO Elon Musk, SpaceX aims to create a constellation of 12,000 satellites in the Earth's orbit to improve internet service across the globe.Ian Forsyth/Getty Images

Elon Musk's space exploration company, SpaceX, plans to launch up to 42,000 satellites into orbit to beam internet down to remote parts of the Earth.
SpaceX has already put close to 200 Starlink satellites into orbit, and this week British stargazers were startled to see a shimmering trail as the satellites crossed clear night skies.
Social media users from Wales to Essex, southeast England reported the trail of satellites a little after 9pm.
The satellites should be visible in the UK and across western Europe again this week — here's how you can spot them.
Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

If you saw a peculiar trail of UFOs in the UK on Monday night, don't be too alarmed — they were probably Starlink satellites.

SpaceX, the space exploration company founded by Elon Musk, plans to put thousands of satellites into space to beam internet access down to remote parts of the Earth. There are already almost 300 Starlink satellites in orbit right now, and some are visible to the naked eye, depending on where they are.

European stargazers reported spotting a trail of satellites on Monday night, with users on social media posting sightings in Wales, England, Germany, and in Kosovo.

Here's how you can check when Starlink satellites might be visible from your location:

Read the original article on Business Insider

Astronomers have said, though, the visibility of Starlink satellites isn't necessarily a good thing.

Aerial view of the European Southern Observatory's (ESO) La Silla facility in La Higuera, Coquimbo Region, about 600 km north of Santiago in the depths of Chile's bone-dry Atacama desert, taken on June 6, 2019 MARTIN BERNETTI/AFP via Getty Images

Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer at the Center for Astrophysics at Harvard and Smithsonian, modelled the potential impact of hundreds of Starlink satellites on the night sky.

He predicted to BI in March that people would observe chains of satellites moving with the naked eye. "They'll be about the same as the fainter stars that you can make out. But I still think that's going to be dramatic," he said at the time. "One or two you wouldn't notice, but 200 that faint moving across the sky? You'll sort of start to notice that the sky is swimming."

And while Elon Musk claims Starlink will have "zero" impact on the field of astronomy, McDowell and other experts disagree.

According to the site, people in western Europe can expect another sighting on Tuesday evening and throughout the week.

18 April 2020, Brandenburg, Sieversdorf: Two "Starlink" satellites can be seen as stripes of light in the night sky (shot with an exposure time of 15 seconds). In early January 2020, 60 satellites were launched into space for the third time for the Starlink project. Starlink is a project of Elon Musk and his SpaceX company. Since May 2019, 180 such communication satellites have been launched into orbit. Patrick Pleul/picture alliance via Getty Images

One enthusiast recommends taking 15 minutes so your eyes can adjust to the dark for the best chance of spot the satellites as well as the expected Lyrid meteor shower.

It also shows a live map, tracking the current position of Starlink satellites.

Shona Ghosh/Business Insider

The Find Starlink site lets you enter your location and try and time your night gazing for the best chance of spotting the train of satellites.

Shona Ghosh/Business Insider

Find Starlink is popular with amateur stargazers.

But enthusiasts are using apps and websites to track the satellites' position — and there will be further "passes" this week which will be visible from the UK.

A Met Office spokesman said weather conditions were expected to be clear for the UK on Tuesday night, although those in big cities might have a tougher time spotting the satellites.

The weather, and the satellites' orbital position, can make it difficult to predict exactly when you would next see a satellite "pass."

A Starlink train from December. Vimeo/SatTrackCam Leiden

The 60 satellites visible over Europe were launched in March, but their current position makes them easier to see.

SpaceX

A chain of satellites became visible over night skies in Europe from Sunday, with users on social media tweeting sightings from Berlin, Wales, and Kosovo.

The satellites look a little like a chain of fairy lights.

There are currently more than 300 Starlink satellites in orbit.

An illustration of SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet constellation in orbit around Earth. SpaceX

SpaceX first announced the programme in 2015, and the goal is to get 12,000 satellites into orbit.

Starlink is a program by Elon Musk's space exploration firm SpaceX to beam internet access around the Earth using a network of satellites.

SpaceX Elon Musk. REUTERS/Steve Nesius