<p>No. There are currently 5 spacecraft orbit the Moon (Or the E-M L2 point). These are LRO, Artemis P1 and P2, Chang'e 5 T1, and the Queqiao relay satellite. Of these, the largest is probably <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/pdf/360020main_LRO_LCROSS_presskit2.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">LRO</a>. The solar panels, which are the largest part of most spacecraft, "he three panels together are 168 inches wide and extend out from the spacecraft 126 inches". Converted to meters, that is 4.25 x 3.2m. Just to give an idea of how visible that would be, Elon's Tesla Roadster, according to <a href="https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/horizons.cgi" rel="nofollow noreferrer">JPL Horizons</a>, when it was at the distance of the Moon, had an apparent brightness of about 15.27. Using <a href="http://www.icq.eps.harvard.edu/MagScale.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this chart,</a> an aperture of about 50 cm is required. LRO should be a bit brighter, but not enough to make a huge difference. And none of this takes in to account the glare of the Moon itself. Whatever you saw, it probably wasn't a satellite. </p>

<p>I suspect it was a star of some kind. If you can provide the date and time we might be able to figure out a candidate star.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-02-05T13:58:04.840Z
2019-02-05T13:58:04.840Z
PearsonArtPhoto
<p>The other answer is conclusive (it probably wasn't a satellite). Let me just add more data w.r.t. time.</p>

<p>At the lowest altitude possible, a lunar orbit is completed in 1 hour 51 minutes. The higher the orbit, the longer it takes - say at 400 km altitude (similar to the ISS altitude around Earth), it would take 2 hours 20 minutes.</p>

<p>Let's say it takes 2 hours sharp. That's 120 minutes for 360 degrees, or 3 degrees per minute. In 30 minutes you would expect the satellite to do about 1/4 of its orbit. But it's pretty complicated to translate that into what you see with a telescope from Earth.</p>

<p>All of the above is for very low orbits, which in a small telescope would seem to graze the surface of the Moon. If there's any appreciable distance between the satellite and the Moon, the orbit would be much, much slower.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-02-05T19:06:35.827Z
2019-02-05T19:06:35.827Z
Florin Andrei
<p>On this clear early morning over London, I was studying the moon with a pair of binoculars and noticed a tiny dot of light that appeared to trace a slow orbit around the moon. I reckon it moved roughly 30 degrees in as many minutes. I'm wondering whether I was seeing a star or if it's remotely possible that I was seeing sunlight reflecting off an orbiting craft? Although the sky was clear it certainly wasn't starry; it was about 100 minutes before sunrise.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-01-31T07:56:07.343Z
A 30 degree arc around the Moon near its limb does not deviate much from a straight line. The Moon moves it's own diameter with respect to the stars in about 54 minutes, so it's really likely you saw a star and the Moon slowly move past it. The Moon is almost 400,000 km away, I think the chances that you saw a satellite at that distance, even with binoculars are nil.
uhoh
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-01-31T07:56:12.930Z
There is one case of a satellite near the moon being seen in a large telescope, but it was the plume of the spacecraft's engine's ignition that was detected through the telescope: [How could tiny Hagoromo have been seen visually from earth confirming its lunar orbit?](https://space.stackexchange.com/q/17296/12102)
uhoh
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-01-31T10:02:01.397Z
@GdD 30 degrees around the Moon in as many (30) minutes. How far away would a satellite have to be to remain close to the Moon for a half-hour?
uhoh
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-01-31T11:17:14.283Z
@GdD sorry, GEO from London would be closer to 7.5 degrees south declination from London.
uhoh
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-02-06T02:53:44.400Z
@uhoh 1000 times as far as the ISS at closest.
Keith McClary
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-09-03T15:19:55.957Z
Unrelated to the answer to your question, but you may be interested in this question over at Space Exploration: https://space.stackexchange.com/q/38528/58
called2voyage
<the-moon><orbit><observational-astronomy>
Is it possible to see a spacecraft orbiting the moon with a pair of binoculars?
Matt Jenkins
# Is it possible to see a spacecraft orbiting the moon with a pair of binoculars?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-01-31)

On this clear early morning over London, I was studying the moon with a pair of binoculars and noticed a tiny dot of light that appeared to trace a slow orbit around the moon. I reckon it moved roughly 30 degrees in as many minutes. I'm wondering whether I was seeing a star or if it's remotely possible that I was seeing sunlight reflecting off an orbiting craft? Although the sky was clear it certainly wasn't starry; it was about 100 minutes before sunrise.

**Tags:** the-moon, orbit, observational-astronomy

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: A 30 degree arc around the Moon near its limb does not deviate much from a straight line. The Moon moves it's own diameter with respect to the stars in about 54 minutes, so it's really likely you saw a star and the Moon slowly move past it. The Moon is almost 400,000 km away, I think the chances that you saw a satellite at that distance, even with binoculars are nil.  
> **username_1**: There is one case of a satellite near the moon being seen in a large telescope, but it was the plume of the spacecraft's engine's ignition that was detected through the telescope: [How could tiny Hagoromo have been seen visually from earth confirming its lunar orbit?](https://space.stackexchange.com/q/17296/12102)  
> **username_1**: @GdD 30 degrees around the Moon in as many (30) minutes. How far away would a satellite have to be to remain close to the Moon for a half-hour?  
> **username_1**: @GdD sorry, GEO from London would be closer to 7.5 degrees south declination from London.  
> **username_2**: @username_1 1000 times as far as the ISS at closest.  
> **username_3**: Unrelated to the answer to your question, but you may be interested in this question over at Space Exploration: https://space.stackexchange.com/q/38528/58  

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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_4 on 2019-02-05. Score: 4 | Accepted answer

No. There are currently 5 spacecraft orbit the Moon (Or the E-M L2 point). These are LRO, Artemis P1 and P2, Chang'e 5 T1, and the Queqiao relay satellite. Of these, the largest is probably [LRO](https://www.nasa.gov/pdf/360020main_LRO_LCROSS_presskit2.pdf). The solar panels, which are the largest part of most spacecraft, "he three panels together are 168 inches wide and extend out from the spacecraft 126 inches". Converted to meters, that is 4.25 x 3.2m. Just to give an idea of how visible that would be, Elon's Tesla Roadster, according to [JPL Horizons](https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/horizons.cgi), when it was at the distance of the Moon, had an apparent brightness of about 15.27. Using [this chart,](http://www.icq.eps.harvard.edu/MagScale.html) an aperture of about 50 cm is required. LRO should be a bit brighter, but not enough to make a huge difference. And none of this takes in to account the glare of the Moon itself. Whatever you saw, it probably wasn't a satellite.

I suspect it was a star of some kind. If you can provide the date and time we might be able to figure out a candidate star.


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### Answer by username_5 on 2019-02-05. Score: 1

The other answer is conclusive (it probably wasn't a satellite). Let me just add more data w.r.t. time.

At the lowest altitude possible, a lunar orbit is completed in 1 hour 51 minutes. The higher the orbit, the longer it takes - say at 400 km altitude (similar to the ISS altitude around Earth), it would take 2 hours 20 minutes.

Let's say it takes 2 hours sharp. That's 120 minutes for 360 degrees, or 3 degrees per minute. In 30 minutes you would expect the satellite to do about 1/4 of its orbit. But it's pretty complicated to translate that into what you see with a telescope from Earth.

All of the above is for very low orbits, which in a small telescope would seem to graze the surface of the Moon. If there's any appreciable distance between the satellite and the Moon, the orbit would be much, much slower.


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