If you missed this Midsomer Norton : two more opportunities to star gaze in the skies

By Susie Watkins

20th Apr 2020 | Local News

Thank you the amazing Kilmersdon Weather for this photo of last night's line up
Thank you the amazing Kilmersdon Weather for this photo of last night's line up

In case you missed it, you have two more chances to see this string of strange lights perfectly aligned travelling from west to east across the sky.

No, not an alien arrival, but the SpaceX Starlink project - something it is hoped will eventually bring high quality Wifi to parts of the world which are remote, and find it challenging to get internet by conventional means.

They are sighted soon after sunset or before sunrise as it is then the sun shines on them and reflects that light back to earth shortly after dark or before light.

They are the project of Elon Musk whose SpaceX plan will see them launching satellites as frequently as every two weeks in 2020. In total, nearly 12,000 satellites are planned to be deployed, with a possible later extension to 42,000.

The famous Kilmersdon Weather man, who Nub News would like to thank for letting us use this photo from last night, said: " What worries me is they're in quite a low orbit and have a limited length of time as a lifespan so (they) will have to crash back down to earth sometime."

You can view them tonight (April 20) easily with the naked eye given there's no moon at present. Look towards the west at 21: 58 and they should cross almost directly overhead before disappearing 20 degrees above the eastern horizon six minutes later. If you miss them tonight an equally good showing will be tomorrow night (April 21) at around 10:30pm.

     

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