*** The Official Astronomy & Universe Thread ***

Soldato
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Seen 8 fly overhead about half an hour ago. All in a line. About 10 seconds apart. I could've missed some as I was watching out the window.
 
Soldato
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So I'm keen to try and see the new Starlink satellites while they're all in a tight bunch/train.

But I must admit I'm slightly confused because all these resources seeming to list "Starlink 5,6" or "Starlink 6,7" - What does "6,7" mean? If we want to see the ones launched this week what number are we looking for?

For example, if I use the app "Find Starlink Satellite", it shows:-
Starlink-3
Starlink-5,6
Starlink-6,7​

Why "5,6" and "6,7"? Which is the one launched this week? "6,7"?

Use https://www.heavens-above.com/ and you can see the launch date for each set of satellites, as well as their current orbits and positions.

Predictions for the latest launch (generally called Starlink 6) don't go very far into the future yet, so you'll probably find checking each evening around 7pm to find a time is best. Typically best views are 9 to 10pm, as the sky is getting dark enough but the satellites are still catching enough sunlight to be bright in the sky. Much earlier and it's still too light, much later and they become dimmer.

I've not found anything referring to 5,6 or 6,7 so far but then i've only really been looking on the PC, not using apps.
 
Soldato
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BTW - The best tool I've found for seeing the Starlink Satellites is this one - https://james.darpinian.com/satellites/

It not only gives you the times nicely, but even shows you each satellite of the batch passing over your areas, and even allows you to type in your postcode AND SEE A VIEW FROM YOUR HOUSE (using a sort of Google street view) of each satellite coming over along with time. So you can see exactly what time the satellites pass over, and where in relation to your skyline (or neighbours' roofs etc) they will travel. Epic!
 
Man of Honour
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I was watching/listening to this today and found one aspect of their conversation fascinating:


In short, Benford asks in one segment what if intelligent life came before us in the distant past and seeded probes across the galaxy, probes that simply watch, gather data, take photos etc of a system's formation and should intelligent life evolve on a world in that solar system, then one day they may become technologically advanced enough to find the probe and "replay" their entire history recorded on the probe. Also fascinating to hear that the Moon has been photographed over 2 million times by NASA with the resolution of about a foot capable of seeing the footprints of Armstrong etc, but the manpower just isn't available to look through them all yet, nor is the AI computing power advanced enough to not miss things the human brain can spot in the photos that could be of interest. This thought would apply to other bodies in the solar system too.

Imagine it, "Here is the entire natural history of your planet.", what a gift that would be? Although it would 100% overthrow the balance of various parts of human culture in an instant.

I find this concept really interesting. It's something that's ultimately possible even considering Fermi Paradox. Dr Kipping spoke about the latter recently too which was equally fascinating and put the numbers into great perspective:


Personally I still don't think we will ever leave our solar system as a non-augmented human species. It will more than likely be a hybrid of machine and AI carrying a seed payload maybe to continue life elsewhere once a suitable planet is found. By this time Earth will be exhausted from human consumption of its resources and accelerated geological activity and a new home is needed.

Food for thought!
 
Last edited:

RxR

RxR

Soldato
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Strictly speaking, a competently instrumented high AAIQ (Adaptive Artificial Intelligence Quotient) device has no practical need (or arguably, any interest in a need) to carry a human seed payload. The great anthropomorphic hope is that it would. If you calculate the objective chance (aka probability) of that actually happening, would the hope be reasonable?

It is common enough experience that when the student exceeds the master, the new master has little practical concern for the old master.
 
Soldato
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So tomorrow's SpaceX Dragon launch... The launch is about 9:30pm our time, and the ISS is passing over the UK about 9:22pm. So Does that mean the Dragon capsule will pass over the UK say about 9:45pm?

ie: Watch the launch live at 9:30pm, then about 9:45 pop outside and watch the capsule cruise over?
 
Soldato
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Indeed that's what they just said on R4 - 21:30 should see ISS passing in sky, and at 21:50 should see spacex catching it up;
they just said look South-West .... but I need to look online to find altitude.
 
Soldato
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Indeed that's what they just said on R4 - 21:30 should see ISS passing in sky, and at 21:50 should see spacex catching it up;
they just said look South-West .... but I need to look online to find altitude.
I have ISS going over at 9:23!?

This site is epic for the ISS and Starlink satellites, even showing a view from your house (your enter your postcode) so you know exactly where/when to look - https://james.darpinian.com/satellites/
 
Associate
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So tomorrow's SpaceX Dragon launch... The launch is about 9:30pm our time, and the ISS is passing over the UK about 9:22pm. So Does that mean the Dragon capsule will pass over the UK say about 9:45pm?

ie: Watch the launch live at 9:30pm, then about 9:45 pop outside and watch the capsule cruise over?

Definately going to watch this later - hope we get a decent view.

Probably a long shot - if I am able to track this through a telescope (anticipate this would be very difficult) would I see more? Logic is telling me that it will just be a slightly bigger bright speck, so probably just best watching with the naked eye.
 
Soldato
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Definately going to watch this later - hope we get a decent view.

Probably a long shot - if I am able to track this through a telescope (anticipate this would be very difficult) would I see more? Logic is telling me that it will just be a slightly bigger bright speck, so probably just best watching with the naked eye.
Well, with a Starlink launch a few weeks back, I could see that capsule come directly overhead (here in UK) about 15 mins after its launch. I'd envisage the Dragon should be visable, as long as (a) it passes over us, and (b) it's dark enough.

At 9:45-9:50ish it might be too light to see it...
 
Soldato
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I have ISS going over at 9:23!?

This site is epic for the ISS and Starlink satellites, even showing a view from your house (your enter your postcode) so you know exactly where/when to look - https://james.darpinian.com/satellites/

I'm now confused, another site said 22:57 local time ... maybe below site is junk


49941681628_86267c71b5_c_d.jpg
 
Soldato
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Some sites hide passes in daylight, the 9pm one is considered to be in daylight so often gets dropped. Heavens Above does this, but there is an easy tick box to show daylight passes as well.
 
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