Is it true that satellites look like stars?

Question

or can you even see them? If so, can you tell the difference without a telescope?

Answer 1

You can't see all satellites--some are just too small. But many are large enough for you to see.

They move across the sky. The international space station is a nice big satellite you can easily see without a telescope. When a shuttle is up you can usually see it.

Best way to find out is to check with your nearest planetarium. They are usually up on satellites that are visible.

They do look a lot like stars but they move very quickly unlike stars.

Answer 2

The satellites look like stars. Sometimes you can see without telescope.

Answer 3

In answer to the second part of the question: It does not matter that our solar system was not around 14 billion years ago. What matters is that the star or galaxy was there 14 billion years ago to send the photons on their way. This is the classic question "If a tree falls in the forest and nobody is there to hear it, does it still make a sound?". The scientific answer is yes. When the tree falls, it produces a disturbance in the air and sends out a sound wave. The wave exists, whether an ear and a brain are present to hear it or not. If a star shines and no-one is there to watch it, it still shines. Of course, the inhabitants of the far away galaxy are unaware of the existence of the Sun, as they are viewing the Milky Way as it was 14 billion years ago, a young galaxy with no Sun in it yet. I should also point out that they would need some very powerful telescopes to be able to see the Sun from that distance. We can't see Sun-like stars 14 billion light years away. They are too faint.

Answer 4

They are easily visible. No telescope required. The difference is that they move while stars don't. If you watch the sky for about half an hour you will probably spot three or four of them.

Answer 5

Satellites *do* look like stars. You can tell it's a satellite though because it will move in a straight line across the night sky. Stars don't. High-altitude jets have blinking lights on them, which satellites don't.

Answer 6

Yes, they do look like stars, except they're moving. The ones I notice are moving in a northwest to southeast direction.

It might be easier to spot them if you're away from city lights. Some of them are hard to spot, even out here in the country, because they're small and don't reflect that much sunlight.

I saw the International Space Station once. NASA has a webpage you can go to to find out where to look:

http://www.spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/sightings/

See also:
http://fun.familyeducation.com/satellites/outdoor-activities/35032.html

There probably are other sites like this on the web.

Answer 7

You can see loads of different satellites on a clear night they dont exactly look like stars coz they are orbiting the earth so will appear to move quite quickly through the sky.
Baz

Answer 8

Yes it is,

They do look like stares , and on some clear nights you can see them crossing the sky without a telescope, binoculars are also handy.

Cheers

Answer 9

they sort of look like stars in that they are white spots in the sky, however some of them are distinguishable as satellites because you can see them moving across the sky

Answer 10

stars twinkle,honest.So satellites actually look like ultra fast moving planets,in fact they are artificial moons.