Night sky satellite light trail thrills northern residents
Shining points in a line seen moving across sky; timing coincides with predicted viewing opportunities for SpaceX’s chain of mini satellites
A line of sparkling lights spotted Saturday moving silently across the sky in the north of the country drew excitement from local residents.
The Kan public broadcaster reported the sightings were made at around 10 p.m. — the same time that the Starlink chain of satellites was visible over Lebanon and Turkey.
Eyewitness Nofar told Channel 12 that the line had about 50 points of light in it and moved diagonally down the sky.
“It was not a meteor, but like lights on a construction crane — but just up in the middle of the sky,” Nofar said.
The IDF said that it was not aware of any strange events in the sky that could have caused the incident.
Some said the lights were seen across a swath of territory stretching from Israel to Turkey, according to the report.
Videos of the lights were posted to social media.
לפי הערכה, מדובר במעבר לוויינים מסדרת סטארלינק של SpaceX בשמי הארץ | תיעוד@rubih67
(צילום: דורון אטלן) pic.twitter.com/ndV3GHHuck— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) July 23, 2022
The Starlink satellites, launched by the SpaceX company, are intended to provide satellite internet services to dozens of countries.
Visibility in Israel and elsewhere can be checked on the FindStarlink website.
Following its first satellite launch in February 2018, the completed network, expected to be fully deployed in the coming months, will comprise some 1,600 satellites surrounding the Earth in a low orbit.
Earlier this year, SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk ordered that Starlink equipment be sent to Ukraine to enable internet connections with the country following its invasion by Russia in February.
