If you are a child of the space-race age like me, you get really pumped when you can see a man-made object flying overhead that is actually in outer space! It's going to happen again tonight.

The first time I saw satellites flying over was when I had taken a trip to Wyoming with my Uncle Paul. We were way out in the woods camping, it was a clear night, and there probably wasn't a man-made light source for miles. Those elements added up to a perfect night for star-gazing.

As we were identifying the constellations, I noticed what I thought was an airplane flying overhead. That's when I learned that one can actually see satellites in outer space!

Satellites do not have blinking lights as aircraft do, so spotting one will usually happen just after dusk and right before dawn when the satellite is way up there basking in the sun while we are still in Earth's shadow.

SL-16 R/B (Russian) and
Falcon 9 R/B (US). The majority of the satellites will be traveling from the southwest to the northeast.

Darpinian's website is a great resource for when satellites will be visible to the naked eye in your area (the website's URL contains the words SEE A SATELLITE TONIGHT). The website even uses Google Street View to let you know where to look to see the satellites.

 

More From Classic Rock 105.1