Posted on 12/22/2019 5:04:32 PM PST by Ronaldus Magnus
A few minutes ago a strange, perfectly straight line of about 30 bright lights was visible moving across southern Wisconsin from the southwest to the northeast. They would appear just over the horizon and disappear as they came overhead. It was initially a quite shocking sight so Freepers might want to be on the lookout for them and know what they are before they first see them.
These were the 60 or so SpaceX Starlink satellites orbiting at an altitude of 174 miles. They can be tracked using websites (https://www.satflare.com/track.asp?q=starlink and http://stuffin.space). They are visible only under clear skies shortly before sunrise and after sunset. I was surprised how bright they were and how unnerving it was to see a perfectly straight line of "stars" moving slowly through the sky.
Sounds like cell phone companies are going to take a hit. Now if only we can figure out how to get rid of those ugly windmills!
30 years ago might have been Iridium (satellite phone system) . Motorola spent $4B to send them up. Think they used Chinese technology for some of them. Didn’t make any money & sold the system to some Saudi. Calls were so expensive that only DOD and what’s his name used it.
God put some lights in the sky and man put some lights in the sky. What makes the man-placed lights crap?
That would be me. Looking forward to trying Starlink.
It is now 9:40 pm in WI. Should I really get out of bed to freeze in the yard to try to see this?
Or am I hours too late seeing your post?
- Lazy in Southern WI
Great video, I missed this particular launch.
They have already made an entire orbit and are now crossing the west coast of Africa.
Looks like tomorrow right after sunset is good time to see them.
I will be at work.
Sunrise sounds a tad early..... but really my best option.
Could try Tuesday at sunset, since I will be home that day.
Would be cool to see them, and thanks for the warning.
We do indulge in “Ancient Aliens” here, to see that guy’s wild hair, Georgio Snuffleuppagus..
When will they be operational?
I like in the boonies and my internet sucks bilgewater.
If one of those lights breaks formation and starts heading straight at you—_then_ you have got yourself a UFO. ;-)
self ping
True... :)
“Sounds like cell phone companies are going to take a hit.”
Good... AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint deserve every bit of it for their crooked deceptive business practices.
Iridium wasn’t launched until the mid-1990’s.
“We are going to look like Saturn!”
We already do... :)
https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/08/Orbit_V02.gif
Same here, We have to use our phones as a modem to get anything at all.
So what? Do you think man is lesser in nature? Perverted misanthropy isn’t funny.
You obviously don’t get out much.
How is that obvious? Random nonsense.
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