Does military/communication satellites reflect enough visible light to be seen on ground during day or night?
Yes, if it looks like a moving star traversing the sky at night at a relatively fast speed, it is a satellite. It will not be flashing or blinking,pulsating, or strobing of any kind, just a solid light. The satellites are travelling at approximately 10,000 mph due to the lack of any strong gravity.
The best time to see these things is after sunset where the sky is dark, but the satellite is still in sunlight. The site heavens-above.com can predict lots of these events in advance. However, it needs to know where you are, often within a few miles – like what town you live in. Curiously, geosynchronous satellites don’t move much in the sky. They can be found by looking in the right direction (they’re always in the same spot, and this can be determined by where you are). Open the camera for a long exposure. The stars will move, but these satellites will not.
Related Questions
- Does military/communication satellites reflect enough visible light to be seen on ground during day or night?
- What do radio waves, infrared radiation, visible light, ultraviolet radiation, X-rays, and gamma rays have in?
- Which other type of electromagnetic rediation,besides visible light,are used to invsestigate the universe?
