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[–] 78 points 7 months ago (8 children)

I remember just 10 years ago using a special app on my phone to alert me of any potential satellite flares so I could run out and catch them.

Now I can't look at the night sky for 2 minutes without seeing one.

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  • [–] 54 points 7 months ago (3 children)

    You can actually see some in broad daylight. I was shocked one day looking up and seeing one (white dot in the picture, verified with sat tracking app).

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  • [+] -14 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (2 children)

    This photo is AI!

    Yikes. This was not a serious comment. I thought that’d be obvious because… it’s literally blue sky with a white dot.

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  • [–] 4 points 7 months ago (3 children)

    For the uneducated, what do these look like and can you see them in areas with light pollution?

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  • [–] 10 points 7 months ago

    Yes. They are technically reflected sunlight, so they are as bright as the sun, just very small. It makes sense you can see them during sunlight, since they are reflections of sunlight. You will typically only see them on the side of the sky opposite the sun, but the exact angle depends on the location and orientation of the satellite and the surface that is actually doing the reflection.

    Generally speaking, they are dots that fade in somewhat gradually, moving at a consistent pace (typically slower than a shooting star, but faster than an airplane at cruising altitude) in a straight line direction for awhile at full brightness, then fading away.

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