MOSSEL BAY NEWS - A row of Starlink satellites was seen from Mossel Bay on Monday, 22 May, from about 05:50 to 06:20. Heiderand resident Sunet Becker said she saw from her home about 35 satellites in a row.
Her colleagues also saw them from their work premises in Schoeman Street, Heiderand, during the half hour the satellites were visible before sunrise.
In three years, aerospace company SpaceX, owned by Elon Musk, has launched more than 4 000 Starlink satellites.
Because there are so many in space, seeing the satellites is not a rare occurrence. They have been spotted by a number of people in different countries.
Pretoria-born Elon Musk, a resident of Texas in the United States, is the second richest man in the world, according to the Forbes Billionaire List.
Bernard Arnault of France, the CEO of luxury goods firm LVMH, is the richest.
Internet connection
Musk is launching the satellites because he aims to make internet connection possible for almost anyone on earth including those in remote locations.
Carmel Ives, chair of the Astronomical Society of Southern Africa Johannesburg branch, says: "After a rocket is sent into space and a number of Starlink satellites, such as 150, are released, they become dispersed."This is when they form what appears to be a row of "lights", called a chain or trail.
Ives says: "Many people track satellites. It's a passion for them.
"They are mostly seen just after sunset or before sunrise. They have to be reflecting the sun's light to be seen. They are not making their own light.
"You can use an app, Stellarium, to view satellites."
Stellarium is a free, open source planetarium for your computer or cellphone.
Identify
With it you can identify stars, constellations, planets, comets, satellites and other objects in seconds, just by pointing your phone at the sky. It shows a realistic, three-dimensional sky, as you would see it with the naked eye, binoculars or a telescope.
This link shows the satellites visible from Mossel Bay.
The Astronomical Society of Southern Africa consists of professional and amateur astronomers. Membership is open to all interested persons.
An image from the Stellarium App for 06:00 on 22 May, showing the satellites in the sky visible from Mossel Bay.
This shows the time and date the photograph was taken of the satellites seen from Mossel Bay.
A Starlink satellite release schedule.
The row of satellites seen from Mossel Bay.
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