"Thank God men cannot as yet fly and lay waste the sky as well as the earth!" --Henry David Thoreau, 1817-1862
Last month, my brother and sister in law described UFO lights they saw in the early morning sky. Then one evening we met a guy that was out looking for the Starlink satellites--his description made it sound like this is what my in-laws saw. We Googled it, and yes, it was.
Satellite watching has always been a fun part of the stargazing experience. Getting a glimpse of one used to seem rare and special. When bright ones like the ISS could be seen, it was--and still is--an event to watch for.
But now, this is becoming excessive, and satellites are becoming part of the light pollution that plagues our night sky. SpaceX is intending to put 42,000 satellites in orbit--this article, which is more concerned with impacts to astronomy than stargazing, states that as of 2019, there were only 2,200 operational satellites orbiting Earth. So if you think you see them often now, just wait.
