# Moving "stars" in the sky at night,what could they be? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 26, 2003, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moving-stars-in-the-sky-at-night-what-could-they-be/184405 "2003-06-26T00:39:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![sonicsink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f17d59/32.png) [@sonicsink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sonicsink)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moving-stars-in-the-sky-at-night-what-could-they-be/184405/1 "2003-06-26T00:39:58Z")
Last night hubby and I were out on the roof star gazing when suddenly we saw movement.There was this object that looked exactly like a star except it was moving pretty quickly from approx. north east to south east. As we were watching it, another “star” that was not as bright moved under it passing from approx. south east to north. After about 1/2 hour we spotted yet another “star” moving from approx. south east to east about as bright as the first. Now at first we though it was a plane,but it was moving too fast across the sky and it was just a bright white light,we checked it out with binoculars and there were no blinking lights typical of an airplane and this was a very bright white light. Then we thought it could be satelites,but do they move and where would the bright white light come from?Reflection of the sun? Why was the second “star” not as bright then? Obviously we don’t know too much about this stuff so any insite would be appreciated! ---
**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moving-stars-in-the-sky-at-night-what-could-they-be/184405/2 "2003-06-26T00:44:33Z")
Most likely from your description the brighter object was the International Space Station. The light is reflected sunlight, and the ISS stays visible for typically a couple of minutes until it enters the earth’s shadow and winks out reasonably suddenly. I don’t know what the less bright south to north moving object was - an aircraft maybe? ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moving-stars-in-the-sky-at-night-what-could-they-be/184405/3 "2003-06-26T00:48:54Z")
Sattelites of some sort. Whether one was the ISS or not I couldn’t say. They aren’t exactly rare these days. ---
**Author:** ![bernse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@bernse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bernse)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moving-stars-in-the-sky-at-night-what-could-they-be/184405/4 "2003-06-26T00:48:55Z")
The ISS wouldn’t go in the direction the OP mentioned. Probably just a sattelite of some sort. There is gazzilions up there. Wait until you see an Iridium flare. They can be incredibly bright if you’re at the right place at the right time. Here is a website for you to track visible sattelites: [http://www.heavens-above.com/](http://www.heavens-above.com/) ---
**Author:** ![bernse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@bernse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bernse)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moving-stars-in-the-sky-at-night-what-could-they-be/184405/5 "2003-06-26T00:50:11Z")
Of course, I seem to have great difficulty spelling the words “satellite” Oh well. [sub]I hope I got it right that time![/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Stupendous\_man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a8b319/32.png) [@Stupendous\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stupendous_man)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moving-stars-in-the-sky-at-night-what-could-they-be/184405/6 "2003-06-26T00:50:24Z")
There are all sorts of satellites that are visible when the sky grows dark after sundown. In a park a few weeks ago we saw several withing a few minutes. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moving-stars-in-the-sky-at-night-what-could-they-be/184405/7 "2003-06-26T01:59:48Z")
Just to add that by and large you’ll see more satellite action in the first hour or so after sunset. This happens because although the Earth is already in darkness, the satellites are still high enough to catch some sunlight. As the night progresses, only the highest orbiting satellites still remain “uneclipsed”. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moving-stars-in-the-sky-at-night-what-could-they-be/184405/8 "2003-06-26T02:14:30Z")
[Satellite Schedules.](http://www.heavens-above.com/) Put in your geo coords and get a list of what you can see. Around dawn & sunset, when the sun is below your horizon, many satellites are still in sunlight and they show up well in the darkened sky. I haven’t done this recently, but we used to print out a schedule for our area, then go down to the beach where the sky is unobstructed, with an accurate clock, and watch the satellites go by. Better than submarines. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![rjk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@rjk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjk)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moving-stars-in-the-sky-at-night-what-could-they-be/184405/9 "2003-06-26T04:53:29Z")
A possibly related question: What about lights that _don’t_ move? Last month on several nights I saw what seemed to be a small cluster of lights in the western sky shortly after sunset. They seemed to be in about the same place, (maybe 20 degrees behind the sun, or a little more) every time I saw them. The airport flight path is in the same direction, but these didn’t move like a plane does. Any thoughts? ---
**Author:** ![bernse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@bernse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bernse)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moving-stars-in-the-sky-at-night-what-could-they-be/184405/10 "2003-06-26T04:56:38Z")
Pleiades? ---
**Author:** ![Trigonal\_Planar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/0ea827/32.png) [@Trigonal\_Planar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trigonal_Planar)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moving-stars-in-the-sky-at-night-what-could-they-be/184405/11 "2003-06-26T05:05:17Z")
Nah, pleiades wouldn’t be moving across the sky. These answers are too logical. Obviously it was a UFO. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moving-stars-in-the-sky-at-night-what-could-they-be/184405/12 "2003-06-26T05:08:03Z")
**Bernse** mentioned the Iridium flares in passing. There are 66 Iridium satellites in low earth orbit and when the angle of the sun is right (usually around local sunrise or sunset), their antennas create a _really_ brilliant reflection that appears suddenly, is visible for a few seconds, and then just as quickly vanishes. It is an almost magical thing to see, and you can often catch three or four within an hour. All you need is cloud-free sky, a clear horizon, an accurate watch, and the ability to determine the compass direction and angle above the horizon within about 20 degrees. (It’s easy!) Let me urge Dopers to visit the Heaven’s Above Web site **Bernse** linked to, and look for a flare today. They are just soooooo cool, you’ll be dragging your friends out to see them. ---
**Author:** ![Trigonal\_Planar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/0ea827/32.png) [@Trigonal\_Planar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trigonal_Planar)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moving-stars-in-the-sky-at-night-what-could-they-be/184405/13 "2003-06-26T05:18:54Z")
Wow, that is a very cool site 🆒 Thanks for that link. ---
**Author:** ![Coriolanus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coriolanus/32/18769_2.png) [@Coriolanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coriolanus)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moving-stars-in-the-sky-at-night-what-could-they-be/184405/14 "2003-06-26T06:01:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by rjk \* > \*\*A possibly related question: What about lights that _don’t_ move? Last month on several nights I saw what seemed to be a small cluster of lights in the western sky shortly after sunset. They seemed to be in about the same place, (maybe 20 degrees behind the sun, or a little more) every time I saw them. The airport flight path is in the same direction, but these didn’t move like a plane does. > > Any thoughts? \*\* Very likely you’re seeing planes in an oval holding pattern. I’ve seen much the same thing from Jones Beach, LI – planes circling (ovaling?) JFK looking like slow-moving fireflies. I’ve noticed the Iridium sattelites often come in bunches, from the same direction, which makes sense as the lot of them comprise a network. ---
**Author:** ![bernse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@bernse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bernse)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moving-stars-in-the-sky-at-night-what-could-they-be/184405/15 "2003-06-26T13:40:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Trigonal Planar \* > \*\*Nah, pleiades wouldn’t be moving across the sky. > \*\* Well duh. I wasn’t answering the OP. I was answering the question immediately before that post: > [@](#): > > A possibly related question: What about lights that don’t move? ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moving-stars-in-the-sky-at-night-what-could-they-be/184405/16 "2003-06-26T14:46:32Z")
Sattelites: some are stanionary by design and stay put above the sky (like my Direct TV sattelite), and some don’t have geo stationary orbits and move across the sky. sound right? ---
**Author:** ![Bruce\_Daddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Bruce\_Daddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bruce_Daddy)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moving-stars-in-the-sky-at-night-what-could-they-be/184405/17 "2003-06-26T14:55:26Z")
:eek: [http://www.heavens-above.com/](http://www.heavens-above.com/) has my **neighborhood**!!! ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moving-stars-in-the-sky-at-night-what-could-they-be/184405/18 "2003-06-26T15:07:33Z")
I don’t believe that any geostationary satellites are visible to the naked eye. They are at least 100 times farther from us than LEO satellites, and therefore would be only 1/10,000th as bright, all other things being equal. ---
**Author:** ![buckgully](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb9ed0/32.png) [@buckgully](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buckgully)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moving-stars-in-the-sky-at-night-what-could-they-be/184405/19 "2003-06-26T15:12:37Z")
Yes, there are satellites that have such high orbits that they appear to not move in relation to the ground. That’s called a “geostationary” orbit. Any satellite TV sat, or anything you don’t need to move an antenna to keep track of is in a geostationary orbit. However, I don’t think there are any geostationary satellites that are visible to the naked eye. Satellites you can see are in low earth orbit (LEO). For example, Iridium satellites are only around 300 miles away when they’re directly overhead. Most of the other ones are between 250-350 miles out. Geostationary satellites sit out in a band that’s more than 21,000 miles away. A great site to see the orbits of satellites is J-track 3d. [http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/realtime/jtrack/3d/JTrack3D.html](http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/realtime/jtrack/3d/JTrack3D.html) You see the swarm of satellites in LEO clustered around the earth, then a few oddballs here and there in medium earth orbit, and then a ring of satellites out in the geostationary/geosyncronous orbits. ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moving-stars-in-the-sky-at-night-what-could-they-be/184405/20 "2003-06-26T18:40:35Z")
> [@](#): > > _Karl Gauss wrote:_ > Just to add that by and large you’ll see more satellite action in the first hour or so after sunset. This varies based on latitude and time of year, but in the northern hemisphere and this time of year, satellites are visible for _much_ longer after sunset than in the winter. That’s because with the north pole pointed towards the sun, when you’re in the shadow, an object doesn’t have to be as high to still be in sunlight. In the middle of winter is when things disappear into Earth’s shadow within an hour of sunset. But it’s quite easy to see satellites in June at 11 pm or later, and that’s here at just 33 degrees latitude. You northerners would probably be able to see them all night long. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moving-stars-in-the-sky-at-night-what-could-they-be/184405.md?page=2)