• Question: Have you been looking at the Starlinks over lockdown??

    Asked by anon-257954 on 25 Jun 2020.
    • Photo: Julian Onions

      Julian Onions answered on 25 Jun 2020:

      I’ve seen them a few times now, they can be very bright, but as they get to their eventual locations in orbit they get increasingly dim. They do make a mess of any astrophotography such as those from big telescopes. However this has been the case for many years with existing satellites and general space junk. Telescopes on the moon – that must be the answer!

    • Photo: John Davies

      John Davies answered on 25 Jun 2020:

      Yes. I’m an astronomer so I know what satellites look like (I’ve seen the space station fly over many times) and I have spotted a few STARLINKS. However, I find the predictions on websites are optimistic. I do not see anything like the number they predict. I live on the outskirts of a small town, so my sky is quite dark and mag 3 objects should be easy to spot (mag 3 is an average bright star), but I just do not see most of them.

    • Photo: Dipendra Mistry

      Dipendra Mistry answered on 26 Jun 2020:

      Hi Flotty,

      Great question and I’m impressed that you have been reading up on this area. Is this something you are interested in? If so I am happy to discuss with you in more detail.

      With my current job I am working on antennas which will communicate with future satellite constellations like “Starlink”. So I have been keeping up to date with developments in these areas.

      Kind Regards,
      Dipendra

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