I was a passenger on a cross country flight the other night, and happened to look out the window at just the right time to see the ISS whizzing by. It got me wondering whether pilots who fly often, especially just before sunrise or after sunset, see a lot of satellites.

I see them all of the time on NVGs. 1-4 hours after sunset is the best time to catch them. This is especially true of the ones in polar orbit because they don't transit the Earths shadow as frequently.

Easy to find in the backyard unaided.

Also search for "iridium flares" for really good ones

I can't recall seeing the space station but wearing NVG's above FL400 is almost a constant display of shooting stars.

I can't recall seeing the space station but wearing NVG's above FL400 is almost a constant display of shooting stars.

I think you're doing it wrong.

https://www.heavens-above.com/

Throw in your location and it'll show you every visible satellite pass with time and location.

In Afghanistan, I've seen a ton of shooting stars/satellites since it's so clear and there's very little light pollution.

...standing by for U-2 guys stories of reading "how's my driving" bumper stickers on satellites every 5 minutes.

I've spent a couple hours staring through my phone using the Android Star Map over there. Just type in your lat/long into the app and it pretty much aligns and it's awesome.

Technique only.

Edited December 21, 201410 yr by StoleIt

GoSatWatch App. Works pretty well.

Satellite hunting is probably the best use for an F-15A there is...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASM-135_ASAT

In Afghanistan, I've seen a ton of shooting stars/satellites since it's so clear and there's very little light pollution.

...standing by for U-2 guys stories of reading "how's my driving" bumper stickers on satellites every 5 minutes.

In my case (over 20 years in the U-2), I never paid much attention to looking up. Most of the flying was in the daytime, and looking up for much of a 10 hour flight is boring. Additionally, in a pressure suit, the helmet hurts the neck. I did see a few, but they were just moving lights. Now comets, that was different. Because most (95%) of the obscuring atmosphere is below you, that point of light with a very small and indistinct blur for a tail that you see from the ground is a very bright center with an enormously long and distinct tail. The most impressive was Kahotek (sp?) back in the mid-70s. That one was incredible...it covered half the sky!!

In my case (over 20 years in the U-2), I never paid much attention to looking up. Most of the flying was in the daytime, and looking up for much of a 10 hour flight is boring. Additionally, in a pressure suit, the helmet hurts the neck. I did see a few, but they were just moving lights. Now comets, that was different. Because most (95%) of the obscuring atmosphere is below you, that point of light with a very small and indistinct blur for a tail that you see from the ground is a very bright center with an enormously long and distinct tail. The most impressive was Kahotek (sp?) back in the mid-70s. That one was incredible...it covered half the sky!!

Kohoutek was 1973 and a big flop here on the surface. Comet West was 1976 and, for a short time, was visible in daytime.

LS

Kohoutek was 1973 and a big flop here on the surface. Comet West was 1976 and, for a short time, was visible in daytime.

LS

Yeah, that's the impact of atmospheric diffusion of light and sometimes of being close to the horizon. It was NOT a flop at 70k...it was the biggest and brightest I ever saw. I've seen a number of comets, many of which were not even visible on the surface, and they are sometimes pretty spectacular. Also, being very high allows you to see "sprites"...lightning-llike discharges going up into the atmosphere from the top of megacells. They are a bit rare but also neat to watch. For some reason they seem to be more common in NE Asia and off the Russian north pacific coast, or that's where I saw them more frequently.

Holy crap HiFlyer. Tell me you're writing this down somewhere, or at least just rolling around to different squadrons telling stories for beers.

Couldn't resist...