How many moving Satellites can there be?

Last night my daughter and her friend decided to set up her telescope and called me for help. As soon as I get out there they have already found a satellite moving. I follow it then in under 3 minutes we see 6 in total. All were traveling in a straight line, two were one-following-another but differed in brightness. One was so bright(never seen one so bright) that it had a starburst from the intensity; it stayed this bright for over a minute until it was far east.

How many moving satellites do we have up there?


After this period it went back to normal( seeing 1 or 2 every 10-15 minutes)

Saturday night, in the garden, the sky was full of em.

One after the other. We questioned it in the end, had we mistaken them for planes? Definately was satellites.

Must be hundreds of em.

According to this article, there's 600 active satellites in the sky, and well over 10k pieces of metal orbiting the earth.

Eventually it'll all come back down to earth. A lot of will burn up on re entry, but some of it will eventually hit the ground.

The Union of Concerned Scientists reported in May 2006 that there are an estimated 800 active satellites in orbit. This doesn't include dead/deactivated satellites or other space junk (spent upper stages from rockets, etc.).

The numbers add up quickly when you consider the number of satellites required for global satellite navigation and communications services. There are (I believe) 32 satellites in the US GPS constellation; Russia uses a similar system called GLONASS, which would require a similar number of satellites as does GPS for reliable global service but is currently incomplete. The Iridium satellite network (for satellite phones) uses 66 satellites.

We aren't able to see all of these satellites, however. Many satellites for communications, television broadcast, weather, etc. are placed in Geostationary Orbit - they don't move relative to the surface of the Earth, and so are not easily noticeable from the ground.

Thanks for the input guys. Sure makes for some interesting star gazing. My little one loves looking at the stars now, scared of the dark, but not while the stars are out.

Originally posted by PhloydPhan
The Union of Concerned Scientists reported in May 2006 that there are an estimated 800 active satellites in orbit. This doesn't include dead/deactivated satellites or other space junk (spent upper stages from rockets, etc.).

I know it's a regular floating space junk yard up there.
I remember reading about how NORAD even keeps track on a floating wrench lost during an early space mission.

This is a sad byproduct of our space missions and yet another fine example of mankind lol not to mention the junk we left on the moon or more recenly what will be left on mars when those missions end.

hi there OP,

where abouts in the world are you located ??

i have heard that there are more visable in N America than say in Europe .


thanks

snoopyuk

I live in Central Alberta, Canada. The view is amazing at night when it's clear out. I live in a small town where you can stargaze with great results without going into the country.

Here are a few good links to get a feel of what is up there junk/satellites.

bbc link to space junk

Nasa satellite tracking

ESA animation

hope this helps.

The moving satellites don't bother me.

It's the ones that DON'T move that are worrisome.......


(dramatic music)

Dah Dah DAHHHH!

Also, OP, you can check www.heavens-above.com, make a quick account and plug in your precise location. From there, you can know when many known satellites and other objects (ISS, iridium flares, etc.) are going to be visible to you, direction of travel and magnitude. After you click on the date of your search field results, you can click on a map to show you where to look for it.

Cheers!

I have think to ask this same question in here.

In finland, northern europe, when i look to the sky at night, I can follow tens of moving stars every single moment. They fly in all directions, way to all directions. Sometimes they seems very strange, even doesnt fly in straight course, but even show marks of wavering and brakes, or change of altitude. I follow them weekly in here.

In Thailand, where I live more than Finland, there is none. I cant see anything like that in there, and I look up to the sky almost every night. Here, they are there, flying around with hundreds of them... When smoke a cigarette, you can catch three or four in only one direction of the sky.

Just satelites? I dont know.

reply to post by JanusFIN


hi JanusFIN,

thanks for the post,

How fast would you say they are moving ??
How big would you say they are , compared to other objects in the sky ??

thankyou

snoopyuk

Well, .....Hog wash.

I saw my first UFO in the winter of 1968/9. My Dad and brother saw the same thing. We all decided it was a UFO, because of the performance.

That made me a believer. Watching the night sky has become a passion of mine.

When I see these lights crossing the night sky, you can't tell me they are satellites and space junk. They should have been more visible in the 70's and 80's through till today, yet this junk has been hard to spot with the naked eye.

Why are there so many lights in the night sky, now visible to the naked eye over the past few weeks?

When will you dummies come to life?

An official stance........are you standing on Bull Manure?

Would it not make sense to vector UFO's in the direction of space junk, so the number and intensity can be explained as space junk?

It is easy to trick a fool.

There are thousands of sats in orbit, many not even listed any more due to 9/11. Before that happened the below site listed some military sats, now it is mostly composed of non classified satellites.


Long list of sats:
Earth viewer

reply to post by airteck


Bear in the mind the amount of satellites up there that are used for GPS, global communications, space observatory, think about the number of illegitimate aka "spy satellites" that are up there!

There might be 600 recorded satellites, well what about the unrecorded satellites

The lights I see have switched from west to east and are now going south to north.

They take 3 to 4 up to 10 seconds to cross the sky. They never seem to be falling downwards. Yes, more than one and no not in bunches.

I lay on my back focusing on as much of the sky as I can see, trying not to blink. Strictly eyesight no telescope, so they are either close in or very large going very fast.

reply to post by airteck


starting in January 2009, I began to notice that the stars looked brighter and there was more of them than there usually is. I then started noticing that the brighter stars were moving in a way that I had never seen. It was like they were swimming through the night sky like a jellyfish. Once I saw them moving,I became almost obsessed with watching them. I would lay out and watch them for hours every night. Then I realized that EVERY star is moving! It's just easier to track the brighter ones,but they are all moving the same weird way. I watched continously, trying to find a pattern in the directions they were moving in, but couldn't. I am a big believer in God and try to read some of the bible every day, so when I saw this, it immediately reminded me af Acts 2:19 when God is speaking of the time of judgement and He says"AND I WILL GRANT WONDERS IN THE SKY ABOVE AND SIGNS ON THE EARTH BELOW, BLOOD, AND FIRE, AND VAPOR OF SMOKE"(New American Standard Bible). Also,the book of Enoch (which isn't in the bible,but should be) could explain what's going on as well. Enoch was Noah's great-grandfather. In Genseis 5:21-24 it says this about Enoch:'21Enoch lived sixty-five years, and became the father of Methuselah. 22Then Enoch walked with God three hundred years after he became the father of Methuselah, and he had other sons and daughters. 23So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. 24Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.' In his book Enoch says that while he walked with God, he was shown and explained by the angels all the secrets of heaven and sheol (the abyss,hell). I can't go into the whole book of Enoch here, but if you are interested in reading it for yourself you can read it free at www.sacred-texts.com/bib/boe. I personally believe that a person needs to read AND UNDERSTAND the book of Enoch before he/she can even begin to grasp how things work and God's plan for us.
We are going to focus on the stars here though. Now according to Enoch, stars come forth to earth through portals in heaven. Each individual star by itself, according to their number and their names, their courses and their positions, and their times and their months. Through each of these small portals pass the stars of heaven and run their course to the west on the path which is shown to them and God has appointed. And he calls on them by their name and they hearken unto Him. Each is weighed in a righteous balance according to their proportions of light. And Enoch asked the angel what this mystery was and the angel told him that the stars are the holy who dwelt upon the earth and believe in the name of the Lord of Spirits for ever and ever. It also says that He appoints a judge for each of them so none will hinder. So, basically they have a little bubble that they have to stay in and follow their appointed paths, but they can move all around in that bubble. Now, knowing that stars are the righteous that have been here on earth and worship the Lord day and night, another verse comes to mind that might make sense of things: Revelation 6:9-11 says: 9 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. 10 They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” 11 Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow bondsmen and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been. Could it be that the stars moving in the sky is a sign that the souls have awakened and are asking when it will be time? Just a few thoughts to ponder on. Sorry it was so long, but it's hard to speak of a complex subject as this one in only 4000 words. I hope at least someone gains some knowlege from this. Thank you for your time.