Northwest Iowa — Have you looked up at the night sky in recent weeks? Perhaps you’ve seen some unfamiliar lights? Well, rest assured, it’s not a UFO, but it is somewhat unusual. That is, for now.
The star-like lights all move together, and not in a squadron, but in a row, sequentially. So much so, in fact, that they have earned a nickname — “the satellite train.” Linda Burkhart, the Director at the Sanford Museum and Planetarium in Cherokee tells us about the strange lights.
(as said:) “Elon Musk has put some satellites into space. They’re called StarLink satellites. The purpose of them is to provide satellite internet access.”
What’s being called the “satellite constellation” is being constructed by SpaceX, the private American aerospace manufacturer and space transportation services company founded by Elon Musk.
Click here to see a schedule and graphic of when you can see the “satellite train.”
Burkhart tells us what will happen if you go to that web site.
(as said:) “It’ll give you a schedule. Of when you can see these satellites and the next time that you can take a look at them is at 9:45 p.m. tomorrow night and they’ll be in the northern sky. They’ll be traveling just below the Big and Little Dipper in the northern sky.”
We talked to Burkhart on Wednesday, so when she says “tomorrow,” she means Thursday night, April 30th, and the times are Central Daylight Time. She tells us about some more opportunities to view it.
(as said:) “And then another time that you can take a look at them if you want a darker sky — which would probably be best — would be at like 4:48 a.m. Friday. And at that time you’re going to look over kind of in the northwest. So they’ll be traveling upward past the Big Dipper and going upward. Another good time to look form would be at Friday night at 10:21 p.m. And again, they’ll be traveling — if you look over in the Western sky, you’ll see the very bright light of Venus and then look above that of they’ll be traveling — upward towards the moon. And then another good time to see him would be early Saturday morning at 5:24 a.m., and they’ll be moving across the sky in the western sky at that point.”
Online sources report that the internet service provided by the satellites will go live later this year.
