Tonight a brand new bright passage of the Starlink train visible throughout Italy. How to see it

Today 7 September 2024 at 9.05pm, luminous passage of SpaceX’s Starlink satellite train visible to the naked eye. Download the guide

Often when you look up you can see strange lights in the sky in a row as if it were a train. Well those aren’t aliens but simply Starlink satellites. Basically a satellite constellation system that aims to provide global internet coverage. This system is ideal for rural and geographically isolated areas where Internet connectivity is unreliable or non-existent. System owner is with the purpose of create a global broadband network and Starlink uses a constellation of low Earth orbit (LE) satellites to provide high-speed Internet services.

The passage tonight 7 September 2024 at 9.05 pm will be visible from south – west to north – east so rely on the compasses of your smartphones to position yourself (this passage will last about 5 minutes but we advise you to position yourself a little earlier) ; If the map on heavens above doesn’t appear, try later. Alternatively link to this .

The maps

It’s very simple to know where and when these satellites will be visible from your city. The fastest way is to connect to the site and select your city at the top right. Once this is done, select ‘Starlink steps’ from the menu and you’re done. Maps with time and date will obviously be available for download. This site will also allow you to discover the steps of the other satellites and all the passages of the International Space Station (ISS). Happy ‘hunting’ everyone! Here is a video of a passage:

Starlink’s impact on the night sky

Many of you ask us “what is that train of lights that crosses the sky every now and then?” and we are here to answer you, giving you the opportunity to observe the passage of the Starlink satellites when they are visible from Italy. Even though they are useful tools and the sight of the train in the sky leaves you speechless, there is also a downside. When you see these ‘pretty lights’ in the sky, remember that they are a form of pollution. They are the analogue of the beautiful iridescent reflections of diesel in a puddle of water: beautiful colors, but which highlight chemical pollution.

The artificial satellites

In fact, let us remember that artificial satellites constitute a serious form of pollution of the night sky. Their high brightness, even when not visible to the naked eye, causes very high damage to professional and amateur scientific research, contaminating and often making the data collected by telescopes unusable, even in places freest from normal light pollution, such as in the Chilean observatories. Hawaiians and Canarians. The very high and continuously growing number of satellites in low orbit also makes the risk of catastrophic collisions between satellites increasingly present which could lead to a chain reaction effect such as to make these very precious orbits unusable (Kessler syndrome). The proliferation of satellites is making the pristine night sky a thing of the past, even from the most remote places on Earth free of light pollution from artificial lights.

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