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It was pretty cool looking. I told my son and husband the next morning about the Space X satellites.
By far the strangest thing for me was the 'star' which brightened, dimmed, brightened again, moved a little bit across the sky, disappeared, reappeared, then moved slowly a bit more and faded from view.
Definintely not a satellite, that one.
Hmmm, you say that, but when you are observing them from here on the surface of Planet Earth, then you are a long way from up there beyond the borders of space. :) A satellite could be maneuvering in order to properly align itself, and this could have quite radical effects on how much light it reflects back to Earth ─ they don't emit any light of their own, other than an occasional short burst from a thruster.Quote:
Originally posted by Dreamtimer
Those satellites aren't perfectly round. They've got lots of surfaces and textures and panels on them. And they need to be aligned so that they can do their job. So when they move, the light they reflect back onto Earth changes, and they may even disappear from view for a while. :)
Very cool if I saw a satellite maneuvering.
I didn't really think of that. It seems like a lot of movement, but what you say makes sense.
I saw one burn up in the atmosphere once. It was quite spectacular ─ the flames were green! :)Quote:
Originally posted by Dreamtimer