It’s a more than strange phenomenon that happened this Sunday, April 19. Those who could see the sky during this period of confinement could observe a trail of aligned light points. Several witnesses took pictures of what appears to be a UFO colony. Photos taken from the Greater Lisbon region or even Margem Sul have invaded social networks. The explanation? It’s the constellation of Elon Musk’s Starlink mini satellites. Their luminosity means that they can be observed when it is already dark on earth. Lisbob, the expatriate assistant, tells you all about this strange streak of light spots spotted in the sky of Lisbon.
A strange streak of bright spots spotted in the Lisbon sky
The inhabitants of the Greater Lisbon region and Margem Sul were able to observe a very strange phenomenon. Indeed, nearly fifty aligned light points surprised, and even worried, people who could see the trail in the sky. The phenomenon was observed between and 9:00 p.m. on Thursday, 9:30 p.m., looked up at the sky in Greater Lisbon and Margem Sul.
But the apparent unidentified flying objects (UFOs) were nothing more than a satellite train of the Starlink project - a project of the millionaire Elon Musk who, through 12 thousand satellites (there are already 358 in the sky) and an investment of 10 billion euros, aims to bring broadband internet to the most isolated places on the planet.
A video shows the same phenomenon a few weeks ago in New Zealand:
The devices revolve around the Earth at an altitude of 550 kilometers. They all follow the same route, at an apparent short distance from each other. They have a continuous white light, which allows them to be observed on a clear night, as if they were moving stars.
A satellite tracking site indicates that the satellite train can be observed again in Greater Lisbon, with good visibility, on April 21 at 5:22 a.m., heading south to northeast. But at least until Monday, it will be observed, with less visibility, around 9:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m.
Astronomers from the European Southern Observatory (ESO) have again alerted Elon Musk to the consequences of the Starlink project. The tycoon believes that the constellation will have no impact on astronomy, but scientists say that satellites can interfere with terrestrial telescopes at dawn and dusk when they are still reflecting sunlight.
Elon Musk has already shown his willingness to cooperate with the scientific community to find solutions, after having organized a meeting with the researchers.
