Satellites?

Question

Is it just me or are Satellites getting bigger, or in a lower orbit?

Twice this week now, i have seen satellites that appear as a bright star, not quite as bright as the North Star though. They certainly were not planes, or meteors.

Has anyone else noticed this?

Thanks for your answers, perhaps i just dont look up at the night sky as much as i used to.

I live in the midlands - uk in a small town, although there are not too many street lights nearby, so the night sky is reasonably well defined.

The reason for the question though is that when i was much younger (25 years ago), i used to study the stars alot through my telescope and remember satellites being much dimmer with the naked eye, just the faintest glimmer.

Makes you wonder what we will see in the night sky in another 25 years.

Answer 1

Satellites of larger size can now be put in orbit for special purposes because we've got improved launch vehicles, but the usual satellites -- IIRC communications satellites and "spy" satellites are the most common -- are already about as big as they need to be. These can be seen fairly easily if you're away from city lights, and "about as bright as the North Star" -- second magnitude, in other words -- is about the right brightness for them.

They aren't getting into lower orbits, because that would run them into the fringes of Earth's atmosphere and the friction would soon bring them down.

You don't say where you are. Were you out in the country? If you'd gotten away from city light and smog, you may well have been surprised at the stars you could see.

Answer 2

There are certainly more and more satellites added every year, but the sizes don't increase that much.

The best time of day to see a satellite is a few hours before dawn or an hour or two after sunset. This is because the Earth is in the shadow, but the satellite hasn't fallen into Earth's shadow and can reflect sunlight off its solar panels, which makes them very easy to see.

As other answers have mentioned, the ISS is growing (they just added another huge solar array) So it is getting very bright and it is at a much lower altitude than most satellites.

I'm glad you noticed. Most people don't look up in the sky where I live (Houston). You can barely see a plane at night due to all the light pollution (and air pollution).

Answer 3

Not really. In most cases, if you see an exceptionally bright satellite, (assuming it actually is a satellite and not an aircraft) what you may be seeing is the space station or the solar panel of a satellite reflecting sunlight driectly at you. This generally happens right after sunset or right before sunrise.
Contrary to popular myth, the north star is not really all that bright. Heck it isn't even in the top 25.

Answer 4

The north star isn't that bright, so this is not unusual. There are many satallites so you are bound to spot them every now and then.

You are probably just noticing more.

You probably already know that a satellite will move VERY slowly through the sky, slower than a plane and much slower than a meteor.

Answer 5

Perhaps you saw the ISS? http://www.heavens-above.com/

BTW - the North Star is not the brightest star in the sky, in fact it's not very bright, period. Most random satellites in the sky are about as bright as the North Star or any other moderately bright star. I believe the ISS now rivals Venus in brightness, but I could be mistaken.

Answer 6

i know what you mea i saw one about a year ago just go zooming over our heads no way it was a plane or anything like that,
maybe its got somthign to do with the gravitational pull of our atmosphere and the atmospheric tides of magnetic radiation pushing them out of balance..... or maybe thats a to deep answer

Answer 7

How large is a sallilite in orbit

Answer 8

No, you're just getting taller

Answer 9

THEY`RE WATCHING YOU.

Answer 10

That is UFO.