Since the middle of last year, Elon Musk's company SpaceX has been launching satellites in groups of 60 with the intention of creating a system which will bring high-speed internet to any location on Earth. With the satellites all being launched together, they initially form a tight grouping that slowly separates over time as they reach their operational orbits.
In the first few days the cluster forms what has been referred to as a 'Light Train' as they cross the sky together in a line. On Wednesday the 7th launch took place and last night they passed over my region.
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| 40 Starlinks rising from the west. |
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| Gaining elevation above the northern horizon. |
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| Heading east. |
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| Disappearing into Earth's shadow. |
Three minutes later the next 20 appeared in the west. These were dimmer because they were further along in their journey to their higher final operational positions.
As neat as it was to see the light train, astronomers have serious concerns about how this will effect research and astrophotography when the entire system has been deployed. Those of you doing the math at home realize that 7 launches of 60 satellites equals 420. The project calls for 12,000 satellites needed for complete coverage and so far the satellites have been brighter than initially predicted. After the first launch a black coating was tested to reduce reflectivity and the result was negligible. Remember the Moon is the color of asphalt and it casts a shadow at night.
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