Artificial satellites

When I was a little boy in the late 60’s I would be in my parent’s garden just outside Liverpool with my telescope looking at the stars and on extremely rare occasions I would see a ‘star’ moving across the sky. I would be amazed to realise that it was an artificial satellite that I was seeing as it orbited the Earth. Back then there was no way of me predicting sightings of these satellites and I would consider it a real red letter day if I saw one.

But how things have changed, you wouldn’t believe how many satellites, rockets, space stations and space shuttles you can now see flying overhead. It’s like the M25 on a Friday afternoon up there now! On an average night with a dark sky you would be unlucky not to see 9 or 10 an hour passing overhead. And with the internet there are websites dedicated to artificial satellites and the time of their appearance. The website that I use is www.heavens-above.com this gives details of all satellites and even descriptions of what the satellites name and function is. It also gives up to 10 days notice of when you can see the huge International Space Station.