Discussion: compact starlink-7 group pass tonght (Thurs, June 4)
in: Becks; Becks > 2020-06-04
Jun 4, 2020 8:09 PM
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There's a very favorable overpass of the new starlink-7 group tonight. It will be visible all along the east coast of the US and Canada. For Baltimore/D.C. Philly, NYC, Boston and New England the pass will start just after 9:35 PM EDT this evening. Here's an animation of the ground track, individual satellites shown in red:
Here's the sky chart for Boston:
The pass will be from SW to NE, going almost directly overhead. Look straight up for the big dipper, then follow the arc of the handle to the bright ornagey star Arcturus. The pass will go right by that star at its highest point.
Weather forecast here is for scattered T-storms, but even if there are clouds its worth trying to see this through holes in the clouds. This is probably out best chance to see a compact group of Starlinks at a reasonable evening hour. Might want to set an alarm - I often forget by evening :)
I did get up this morning at 3:50 AM to look for this group in a very low pass, but it was below my local horizon and a little cloudy. Didn't see it.
Here's the sky chart for Boston:
The pass will be from SW to NE, going almost directly overhead. Look straight up for the big dipper, then follow the arc of the handle to the bright ornagey star Arcturus. The pass will go right by that star at its highest point.
Weather forecast here is for scattered T-storms, but even if there are clouds its worth trying to see this through holes in the clouds. This is probably out best chance to see a compact group of Starlinks at a reasonable evening hour. Might want to set an alarm - I often forget by evening :)
I did get up this morning at 3:50 AM to look for this group in a very low pass, but it was below my local horizon and a little cloudy. Didn't see it.
Jun 6, 2020 12:28 AM
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Another decent group7 pass for Boston and New England tonight at 9:42 PM EDT. Looks like it might be clear up there. Here's a single image of the ground track:
Two sats are starting to pull ahead of the larger group. 1444 is about a minute ahead. VisorSat is the second sat in the main group, so you might try to see if it looks obviously fainter than the others.
Here's the sky chart for the leader sat for Boston. The main group will be about a minute behind the times posted here. The pass will be higher in the sky for points north.
There's another good pass at 4 AM tomorrow morning if you happen to be up. This one will be farther south and better for NYC/Philly/Baltimore/D.C.
Two sats are starting to pull ahead of the larger group. 1444 is about a minute ahead. VisorSat is the second sat in the main group, so you might try to see if it looks obviously fainter than the others.
Here's the sky chart for the leader sat for Boston. The main group will be about a minute behind the times posted here. The pass will be higher in the sky for points north.
There's another good pass at 4 AM tomorrow morning if you happen to be up. This one will be farther south and better for NYC/Philly/Baltimore/D.C.
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