<p>Unlike meteors, which burn out in a second or two, satellites can be visible for a few minutes at a time.
In twilight they may be visible all the way across the sky; at darker times of night the Earth's shadow cuts their visibility short unless they're in high orbits.</p>

<p>One good resource for such things is <a href="https://www.heavens-above.com/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Heavens Above</a>.
From Hereford, UK, their <a href="https://www.heavens-above.com/AllSats.aspx?lat=52.0564&amp;lng=-2.716&amp;loc=Hereford&amp;alt=0&amp;tz=GMT" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Daily predictions for brighter satellites</a> list a few matching your description on the morning of 2019-08-07.
For example, the polar-orbiting Russian intelligence satellite <a href="https://www.n2yo.com/satellite/?s=19573" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Cosmos 1975</a> passed <a href="https://www.heavens-above.com/passdetails.aspx?lat=52.0564&amp;lng=-2.716&amp;loc=Hereford&amp;alt=0&amp;tz=GMT&amp;satid=19573&amp;mjd=58702.0420250645" rel="nofollow noreferrer">from WSW to N between 02:00 and 02:04</a>.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-08-27T04:52:38.377Z
Another site I find useful is [in-the-sky.org](https://in-the-sky.org/)
uhoh
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-08-09T01:28:40.530Z
2019-08-09T01:28:40.530Z
Mike G
<p>Maybe you saw the Starlink satellite constellation ;)
You know spaceX send more than 20 satellites om the sky who began to create some issues for the night watchers.
You may saw few of them when Starlink was mooving them to a specific place on the sky.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-12-27T07:01:29.000Z
2019-12-27T07:01:29.000Z
Bobs
<p>Forget about meteors. They are only the size of a sand grain or small pea. They hit the atmosphere at anything between 15km per sec and 25km per sec and burn up almost instantly. Anything large enough to last a lot longer would probably be a meteorite, and would be much brighter (I have seen a couple which lit up the countryside}. What you saw was probably a chunk  of satellite debris in the early stages of re-entry. This often causes bits to break off and trail behind, which almost never happens with a meteorite. Meteorites are meteors large enough to reach the ground. </p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-08-08T19:54:58.933Z
2019-08-08T19:54:58.933Z
Michael Walsby
<p>So yesterday at about 2am I was watching the sky when I saw a small star like object moving very slowly across the sky. My initial thought was that it was a satellite due to the fact it was moving so slowly and wasn’t flashing. However  then I saw another one moving in the same direction about 10 minutes later. I had to keep letting my eyes adjust to the darkness to see it as it was so small but in total, I saw 4 of them moving in very similar directions, almost like they were following a path. There was about a 5-10min gap between each one and I could see it the entire time until it dipped over the tree line. I live in a very rural area so there was no light pollution or anything to interfere with the view. Now I know that around about now we are able to observe the Perseid meteor shower from the comet Swift-Tuttle but these object were very slow moving and I don’t really know how slow a meteor can move, but isn’t it strange that all of them were moving in the same direction? I also did see some normal meteors but as you’d expect, they only lasted for a second or under. Anyone have a clue what’s going on? Thanks.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-08-08T18:00:44.083Z
I think you saw 4 satellites. From where were you observing (city/country or latitude/longitude) and which direction were the objects moving?
JohnHoltz
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-08-08T18:22:50.843Z
You are almost certainly looking at satellites.  You can get apps that will help you identify which satellites you saw ... I use one called "Orbitrack"
Tim Campbell
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-08-08T18:30:20.673Z
I was observing from Herefordshire, UK. Looking north west and the object were moving from west towards north.
Will S
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-08-09T00:58:57.580Z
This is a sober description of a few artificial satellites, not just another UFO report. Voting to leave open.
Mike G
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-12-27T08:01:13.377Z
Does this answer your question? [Line of lights moving in a straight line, with a few following](https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/questions/32034/line-of-lights-moving-in-a-straight-line-with-a-few-following)
ProfRob
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-12-30T19:11:40.990Z
Reasonable question, but very obviously a dupe. Voting to close.
Rory Alsop
<meteor><artificial-satellite>
Slow moving star like objects in the night sky
Will S
# Slow moving star like objects in the night sky

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-08-08)

So yesterday at about 2am I was watching the sky when I saw a small star like object moving very slowly across the sky. My initial thought was that it was a satellite due to the fact it was moving so slowly and wasn’t flashing. However then I saw another one moving in the same direction about 10 minutes later. I had to keep letting my eyes adjust to the darkness to see it as it was so small but in total, I saw 4 of them moving in very similar directions, almost like they were following a path. There was about a 5-10min gap between each one and I could see it the entire time until it dipped over the tree line. I live in a very rural area so there was no light pollution or anything to interfere with the view. Now I know that around about now we are able to observe the Perseid meteor shower from the comet Swift-Tuttle but these object were very slow moving and I don’t really know how slow a meteor can move, but isn’t it strange that all of them were moving in the same direction? I also did see some normal meteors but as you’d expect, they only lasted for a second or under. Anyone have a clue what’s going on? Thanks.

**Tags:** meteor, artificial-satellite

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: I think you saw 4 satellites. From where were you observing (city/country or latitude/longitude) and which direction were the objects moving?  
> **username_2**: You are almost certainly looking at satellites.  You can get apps that username_0 help you identify which satellites you saw ... I use one called "Orbitrack"  
> **username_0**: I was observing from Herefordshire, UK. Looking north west and the object were moving from west towards north.  
> **username_3**: This is a sober description of a few artificial satellites, not just another UFO report. Voting to leave open.  
> **username_4**: Does this answer your question? [Line of lights moving in a straight line, with a few following](https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/questions/32034/line-of-lights-moving-in-a-straight-line-with-a-few-following)  
> **username_5**: Reasonable question, but very obviously a dupe. Voting to close.  

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## 3 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2019-08-09. Score: 3

Unlike meteors, which burn out in a second or two, satellites can be visible for a few minutes at a time.
In twilight they may be visible all the way across the sky; at darker times of night the Earth's shadow cuts their visibility short unless they're in high orbits.

One good resource for such things is [Heavens Above](https://www.heavens-above.com/).
From Hereford, UK, their [Daily predictions for brighter satellites](https://www.heavens-above.com/AllSats.aspx?lat=52.0564&lng=-2.716&loc=Hereford&alt=0&tz=GMT) list a few matching your description on the morning of 2019-08-07.
For example, the polar-orbiting Russian intelligence satellite [Cosmos 1975](https://www.n2yo.com/satellite/?s=19573) passed [from WSW to N between 02:00 and 02:04](https://www.heavens-above.com/passdetails.aspx?lat=52.0564&lng=-2.716&loc=Hereford&alt=0&tz=GMT&satid=19573&mjd=58702.0420250645).

> **Comments:**
> **username_6**: Another site I find useful is [in-the-sky.org](https://in-the-sky.org/)  

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### Answer by username_7 on 2019-12-27. Score: 1

Maybe you saw the Starlink satellite constellation ;)
You know spaceX send more than 20 satellites om the sky who began to create some issues for the night watchers.
You may saw few of them when Starlink was mooving them to a specific place on the sky.


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### Answer by username_8 on 2019-08-08. Score: -7

Forget about meteors. They are only the size of a sand grain or small pea. They hit the atmosphere at anything between 15km per sec and 25km per sec and burn up almost instantly. Anything large enough to last a lot longer would probably be a meteorite, and would be much brighter (I have seen a couple which lit up the countryside}. What you saw was probably a chunk of satellite debris in the early stages of re-entry. This often causes bits to break off and trail behind, which almost never happens with a meteorite. Meteorites are meteors large enough to reach the ground.


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