<p>I can personally attest that the Starlink satellites are visible with the naked eye even after they have spread out, however they are quite dim - with apparent magnitudes near 5.5. Here is a brightness comparison drawn from a widefield capture where two Starlink satellites are can be seen (albeit barely) juxtaposed with another satellite with apparent magnitude near 3.</p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/pAjXn.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/pAjXn.jpg" alt="enter image description here" /></a></p>
<p>The region in which this was taken is Class 1 on the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bortle_scale" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Bortle Scale</a> and the entire 60-satellite train was visible, though only 4-5 were visible at any given time. In brighter regions the satellites would not be as readily visible. Furthermore, since they have such low orbits, they were only visible for ~105 degrees in the sky before they passed into Earth's shadow.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-07-21T10:41:40.817Z
2020-07-21T10:41:40.817Z
William Miller
<p>I &quot;missed the train&quot; on the Starlink satellites last year, and now it looks like they've <a href="https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/questions/32034/line-of-lights-moving-in-a-straight-line-with-a-few-following/32039#32039">separated</a>, and the conservative voices convinced Space X to darken new ones with visors or paint.</p>
<p>Is it still possible to see 2 or more satellites moving in the same direction with the naked eye? (Actually, any celestial bodies visibly moving in the same direction will do.)</p>
<p>I'm located in California and I tried <a href="https://findstarlink.com/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Find Starlink</a> and the Heavens Above app but wasn't able to see anything.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-07-20T23:23:16.410Z
You should use the heavens-above.com website and the "Starlink - dynamic 3D orbit display". You can see which launches still have satellites in close proximity. Also, "darken" is a relative term. I believe the satellites will still be visible to the naked eye, especially after launch when they are close to each other and at a lower altitude. Since there are many more launches to go, you will have more opportunities in the near future.
JohnHoltz
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-07-21T01:29:16.207Z
@JohnHoltz: that visualization is dope! I'm unclear how "far" in space one can see the sats, give the Earth's curvature and their 550km altitude. If I rotate that globe [just right](https://imgur.com/a/Q5D5kxs), it seems that "dandv" observer could see some part of the train... 5 to 10 sats?
Dan Dascalescu
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-07-21T02:10:37.620Z
These are different but related questions in Space Exploration SE: [Are there any related groups of satellites that are in a line of 6 or more in a row?](https://space.stackexchange.com/q/41770/12102) and [Have astronauts seen Starlink trains?](https://space.stackexchange.com/q/43933/12102)
uhoh
<artificial-satellite>
Can any satellite train still be seen?
Dan Dascalescu
# Can any satellite train still be seen?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-07-20)

I "missed the train" on the Starlink satellites last year, and now it looks like they've [separated](https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/questions/32034/line-of-lights-moving-in-a-straight-line-with-a-few-following/32039#32039), and the conservative voices convinced Space X to darken new ones with visors or paint.

Is it still possible to see 2 or more satellites moving in the same direction with the naked eye? (Actually, any celestial bodies visibly moving in the same direction will do.)

I'm located in California and I tried [Find Starlink](https://findstarlink.com/) and the Heavens Above app but wasn't able to see anything.

**Tags:** artificial-satellite

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: You should use the heavens-above.com website and the "Starlink - dynamic 3D orbit display". You can see which launches still have satellites in close proximity. Also, "darken" is a relative term. I believe the satellites will still be visible to the naked eye, especially after launch when they are close to each other and at a lower altitude. Since there are many more launches to go, you will have more opportunities in the near future.  
> **username_0**: @username_1: that visualization is dope! I'm unclear how "far" in space one can see the sats, give the Earth's curvature and their 550km altitude. If I rotate that globe [just right](https://imgur.com/a/Q5D5kxs), it seems that "dandv" observer could see some part of the train... 5 to 10 sats?  
> **username_2**: These are different but related questions in Space Exploration SE: [Are there any related groups of satellites that are in a line of 6 or more in a row?](https://space.stackexchange.com/q/41770/12102) and [Have astronauts seen Starlink trains?](https://space.stackexchange.com/q/43933/12102)  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2020-07-21. Score: 2

I can personally attest that the Starlink satellites are visible with the naked eye even after they have spread out, however they are quite dim - with apparent magnitudes near 5.5. Here is a brightness comparison drawn from a widefield capture where two Starlink satellites are can be seen (albeit barely) juxtaposed with another satellite with apparent magnitude near 3.

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/pAjXn.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/pAjXn.jpg)

The region in which this was taken is Class 1 on the [Bortle Scale](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bortle_scale) and the entire 60-satellite train was visible, though only 4-5 were visible at any given time. In brighter regions the satellites would not be as readily visible. Furthermore, since they have such low orbits, they were only visible for ~105 degrees in the sky before they passed into Earth's shadow.


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