Satellite Spotting: See a Man-Made Orbiting Satellite Pass Right Over Your Head

Satellite spotting is the practice of watching man-made satellites as they pass in low orbit over the earth. Anyone who resides in the area of the earth that can be found from the low to middle latitudes is regularly passed over by a passel of satellites every day without even realizing it. The best time to see these satellites is about an hour or two after sunset, or an hour or two before sunrise, although in rare cases you can actually see them in the daylight. That is because it is during these times that the sunlight is still strong enough to reflect off the metal material. About twenty years ago, for instance, my wife and I saw the space station pass over our heads late in the afternoon. And not long after that, we also saw the space shuttle as it was coming in for a landing. Amazing. The higher the altitude of the spot you live, the better your chances for seeing a satellite speed over you.

The ability to spot a satellite as it passes over you is dependent upon a variety of factors. The most obvious, of course, is the altitude of the machinery itself along with the size of the satellite. The larger the object and the lower the altitude, the better your odds of actually being able to see it. Even one of the bigger satellites can still be seen faintly at a higher altitude, however. Another element in successful satellite spotting is the elevation. Any light that is emanating from satellite that appears lower in the sky will necessarily have to travel through more layers than it would it were directly overhead and thus will seem fainter to the eye. Any satellite flying through the sky is brighter if it can be lit entirely by sunlight coming from the opposite direction; a satellite is brighter from the west if you spot it during sunrise, in other words. Another factor is the actual metal from which the satellite has been manufactured. If the surface of the object is highly polished, it will reflect sunlight much better than a surface that is dull. In addition, if the surface is dimpled or irregular, it can create a twinkling star result.