How
often have you seen slowly satellites passing overhead in the night sky?
If you know when to look, you can see the Space Shutte, the Hubble Space
Telescope, or nearly a hundred communication or weather satellites.
From Earth, satellites look like dim stars, usually moving slowly from
north to south (they look different from jet airplanes because airplanes
have flashing lights). There are software programs
available for purchase that tell you exactly which satellites are visible
from your house at different times. There are also two WWW sites
(NC
and GA) that can make predictions.
More information is available from the Visual Satellite Observers Organization
(VSO)
and by picking nearby locations at SatPass.
Back to the Overview or onward to Internet Tracking
Lesson designed by the YPOP
Team
For questions about this lesson, please contact
Tim Slater