Satellites Visible From The Indianapolis Area
Satellites are best observed after sunset and before sunrise. At
this time the surface of the Earth is in darkness but the Sun is
still visible several hundred kilometers above the surface of the
Earth. Because of this, satellites can reflect sunlight back to the
Earth surface making them easily visible and often brighter than
the brightest stars.
Here are the visible passes for the Indianapolis area for the Hubble Space Telescope and the
International Space
Station for the next 10 days.
Current Position - Hubble Space Telescope |
Current Position - International Space Station |
In addition to these well known satellites there many more
visible each evening. View the list of satellites
visible tonight in Indianapolis, weather permitting. Click on
the time of maximum altitude to get a plot of the satellites path
through the sky.
One other set of interesting satellites are the Iridium
satellites. Many of these highly reflective satellites orbit the
Earth. If they are oriented just right they can produce what is
called an Iridium flare. These flares can occasionally be so bright
that they are visible during the daytime if you look in the correct
direction in the sky.
Here are the Iridium flares for the next: