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| Over New Haven, Connecticut Sunday night, September 25, 2022 |
That is, basically, what my daughter, Anna, saw over New Haven Harbor as she stood on the second floor porch of her house on Long Island Sound. I made a GIF of the extremely short video because it hurt my eyes and the GIF does not (I don't know why). Anna's iPhone could not handle the data from the sky well. We quickly learned that this was a SpaceX Starlink satellite train. Each satellite has a life of only 1-5 years. A SpaceX rocket had taken off in Florida that day and was deploying dozens of Internet satellites 500 km over the earth. Humorously, just before I found this information, Anna derisively mentioned it was probably some Elon Musk "thing" that she saw. And so it was. The trains have been seen, and videoed, all over the world, but we had not heard of it until Anna showed us.
During the week, another daughter, Amelia, found this article about "strange lights" over Vermont—that were from the same SpaceX launch.
The video below is the most interesting and informative one that I found about Starlink, but it was produced in 2019, so it is out of date. However, the astrophotographer clearly explains this controversial project.
14:55
The video below is more technical (2019, also). When I watch information like this, I learn what I am able to understand and ponder the rest for the future. I admit that I love the mathematics involved. Be sure to tell your children and grandchildren that they will be set for life if they become mathematicians. 😉
15:36
I have not been able to learn if the individual satellites, like the ones Anna saw, are physically tethered to each other when in orbit or at launch.
One and a half hours later, Anna sent us three videos of storms that came in off of the Sound. She was hoping to get a lightning video, but that didn't happen. I merged the three to one, below.
00:00:15
Perhaps some will enjoy and appreciate a GIF of our favorite astrophysicist, Neil deGrasse Tyson, which one child of mine used to express her understanding of Starlink:
May all of your skies be clear this week!
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| Skywatch Friday |
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I've seen the sky trains a couple of times. I thought SkyLink was a great thing for really rural areas until I read up on them. Have a marvellously happy week! Purrs Marv and Mom
ReplyDeleteThose were all interesting videos (gifs too). We like that Neil dude!
ReplyDeleteGood night shot.
ReplyDeleteWe have so much light pollution here i wonder if we could even see them. We'll have to look.
ReplyDeleteThat's interesting.
ReplyDeleteI was totally unaware of this info about the satelites, thank you for showing this. I can see why there is concern over their brightness in the sky at night.
ReplyDeleteI find night shots tough.
ReplyDeleteNight photography is always something special; like it!
ReplyDeleteI live in an area with a lot of light pollution, but my son lives out in the country and owns a telescope. I haven't seen the satellite trains and I wonder if he has - I'll have to ask him. Neil DeGrasse Tyson went to my high school (not the same time as I did) and yes, I'm a fan. The official launch of his new book took place at my college, which is close to that high school.
ReplyDeleteNo way, Alana! I'm in awe of that! It's like you know him. New Haven isn't the country. At the right time and reflection from sun, these can be seen in the city. Google images for satellite trains!
DeleteI mean, New Haven is huge city, not in the country, even NYC contributes to their light pollution.
DeleteInteresting post and great photo!
ReplyDeleteInteresting. I of course know about satellites but had never heard of, nor seen a satellite train.
ReplyDeleteInteresting post. I watched the video by the astrophotographer with great interest. When business goals supersede good intentions our inventions can get out of hand. It's worrying when we become willfully blind to the consequences of our actions.
ReplyDeleteSo right, Penelope. And I have to add that anything Musk does deserves twenty look-throughs. He may be trying to finance the colonization of Mars, but he could also be selfishly and greedily damaging Earth.
Deletenight photography is tricky - good job!
ReplyDelete...it's overcast here in the Adirondacks today, but that OK!
ReplyDeleteVery interesting.
ReplyDeleteWorth a Thousand Words
I've been using deGrasse quotes in my newsletters. He's the best! I have Starry Messenger on my Goodreads.
ReplyDelete