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-   -   Is it possible to see satellites form night sky? (https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/showthread.php?t=287354)

  • Dec 2, 2008, 06:20 AM
    mantooon
    Is it possible to see satellites form night sky?
    I mean without using any devices, just with own eyes.
  • Dec 2, 2008, 06:34 AM
    excon
    Hello man:

    Sure. My eyes ain't so good any more, but when Sputnik went up, you could see it at night. It was very cool.

    But, I don't know about today. Sputnik was in low earth orbit, and I don't know what's floating around there these days.

    excon
  • Dec 2, 2008, 10:55 AM
    ebaines

    When the International Space Station passes overhead at the right time (not too late after after dusk) it makes a terrrific sight! Also when the Shuttle is in orbit it's pretty easy to spot if it passes overhead. These objects are in relatively low earth orbit. Objects further away (such as geosynchronous satellites, which are about 24K miles up) are too dim to see with the naked eye.
  • Dec 2, 2008, 10:58 AM
    Synnen

    I see satellites all the time in the night sky.

    Granted, I can generally only see them when I'm away from the city, but we'll sit and count them and point them out to each other, all laying on our backs at different angles on a hill.

    On a typical night, we'll see 10 or so an hour. Most of the time, they just look like moving stars.

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