On recent nights, social media posts began appearing from people in Cayman who said they’d spotted lights in the sky and wondered if they were seeing planes, helicopters or something stranger.
In fact, they’ve been seeing a series of Starlink satellites launched into orbit last week from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched 23 of the satellites to low Earth orbit on Thursday, 23 May.
Tiyen Miller from the Cayman Islands Astronomical Society says people may have another chance to view this satellite ‘train’ Thursday evening, 30 May.
“Starlink communications satellites have been visible over Cayman on recent nights,” he said.
“These satellites are small and they are launched together until they move into their final orbits and positions. They appear as a train of satellites, bright spots across the sky when they reflect sunlight.”
He says, according to calculations, the train of satellites may be visible again Thursday evening from 7:17pm to 7:32pm, as the train makes it way across the sky.
“Though the satellites are predicted to be reasonably bright tomorrow evening, and quite high in the sky, they will be passing not long after civil twilight, so there is some question as to whether they’ll be visible in the glare of the recently set sun. Nevertheless, it’s worth a shot!,” he said.
SpaceX launched another series of satellites on Tuesday, 28 May, but Miller says those would not have been visible in Cayman’s night sky due to their trajectory.
Visit the Cayman Islands Astronomical Society Facebook page to see a link of best viewing times.
Related Videos
