What Did You See?
Answer a few quick questions to identify the light. Tap the option that best matches what you saw.
How to Tell If a Light in the Sky Is a Satellite, Plane, or Planet
| What you saw | Most likely explanation | Key feature |
|---|---|---|
| Bright steady light moving smoothly | Satellite (often ISS) | No blinking. Moves in a straight line. Takes 2–6 min to cross sky. |
| Line of evenly-spaced dots | Starlink train | 10–60 dots in a perfect chain, all moving together. Visible 1–2 weeks after launch. |
| Bright flash or sudden flare | Satellite glint / tumbling debris | Brief bright flash then fades. Reflective surface catching sunlight. |
| Blinking / flashing light | Aircraft | Red, green, or white flashing lights. May change direction or altitude. |
| Bright stationary light | Planet (Venus, Jupiter, Mars) | Does not move noticeably over minutes. Much brighter than surrounding stars. |
| Fast streak (< 1 second) | Meteor / shooting star | Brief bright streak, then gone. No persistent motion. |
| Slow-moving light that fades mid-sky | Satellite entering Earth's shadow | Appears to "switch off." Completely normal on evening passes. |
| Orange/red fireball, slow-moving | Satellite or rocket body re-entry | Breaks into fragments. Much slower than a meteor. Can last 30+ seconds. |
| Stationary hovering light (low) | Drone, helicopter, or bright star | May be lower altitude. Drones can hover in place. Stars twinkle. |
When Can You See Satellites Tonight?
Satellites are only visible during a narrow window: the 1–2 hours after sunset and before sunrise. During this time the sky is dark enough to see the satellite, but the satellite itself is still high enough to be illuminated by the Sun below the horizon. During the middle of the night, most satellites are in Earth's shadow and invisible.
Summer months offer the best satellite viewing because the Sun doesn't dip far below the horizon at higher latitudes — satellites can remain sunlit throughout short summer nights. Winter passes tend to be shorter and fewer, but the longer dark evenings make planets, meteors, and the Milky Way easier to see.
The ISS Tracker on Orbital Radar includes personalised pass predictions for your location — it tells you exactly when the next visible pass occurs, where to look, and how bright it will be.
How Bright Are Satellites? Brightness Compared
Astronomers measure brightness using apparent magnitude — a scale where lower numbers mean brighter objects. The Sun is magnitude −27, the full Moon is −13, and the faintest stars visible to the naked eye are about magnitude +6. Here's where common sky objects fall:
Magnitude is an inverted scale — lower/negative numbers are brighter. The ISS at peak brightness is roughly 25 times brighter than the brightest star (Sirius, mag −1.5).
String of Lights in the Sky Tonight? That's Starlink
If you saw a chain of bright dots moving in a perfectly straight line, you almost certainly saw a recently launched batch of SpaceX Starlink satellites. SpaceX launches 20–60 Starlink satellites at a time on Falcon 9 rockets, and they're deployed in a closely-spaced "train" formation at about 300 km altitude.
Over the following 1–2 weeks, the satellites gradually raise their orbits to ~550 km using onboard ion thrusters and spread out into their operational constellation. During this orbital raising phase, the train is visible as a stunning chain of lights — one of the most common causes of "What is that?" searches. Once at operational altitude, individual Starlink satellites are much fainter (around magnitude +5–7) and rarely noticed.
As of , there are approximately 9,800+ active Starlink satellites in orbit — about 65% of all active satellites. See our live Starlink count, track the constellation live, or check our Starlink visibility guide for the next visible pass over your location.
What Is That Bright Star in the Sky Tonight?
If the light you saw was stationary — not moving across the sky — it's almost certainly a planet. Venus and Jupiter are the most commonly reported "bright stars" because they outshine everything else in the night sky except the Moon. Mars can also appear strikingly bright and distinctly orange-red during favourable oppositions.
The key difference: stars twinkle (scintillate) because their light passes through turbulent atmosphere, while planets shine with a steadier, more constant light because they subtend a larger angular diameter. If it's very bright, doesn't twinkle much, and wasn't there last month — it's a planet.
Can Satellites Be Seen with the Naked Eye?
Yes — several hundred satellites are bright enough to see without any equipment. The International Space Station is the brightest at magnitude −5, rivalling Venus. China's Tiangong station reaches magnitude −3. Recently launched Starlink trains are easily visible at magnitude +1 to +3. On a clear twilight evening from a reasonably dark location, you can typically spot 10–50 satellite passes per hour. See our brightest satellites ranking for the easiest objects to spot.
What Does the ISS Look Like from Earth?
The ISS appears as a very bright, steady, non-blinking light moving smoothly across the sky. At peak brightness (magnitude −5) it rivals Venus and is unmistakable. A typical pass takes 2–6 minutes to cross from horizon to horizon. It does not flash, does not change colour, and always moves in a perfectly straight line. It's the third-brightest object in the night sky after the Sun and Moon. Use the ISS Tracker for live position and personalised pass predictions, or see our guide on how to see the ISS tonight.
Upcoming Meteor Showers
If the light you saw was a brief bright streak lasting less than a second, it was a meteor — a grain of space dust burning up in Earth's atmosphere. Major meteor showers occur at predictable dates each year when Earth passes through debris trails left by comets. Here are the next upcoming showers:
| Shower | Peak Date | Rate (ZHR) | Parent Body | Moon |
|---|
Rates shown are the Zenithal Hourly Rate (ZHR) — the theoretical maximum under perfect conditions with the radiant directly overhead. Real counts depend on sky darkness, moon phase, and your latitude. For best results, observe from a dark location after midnight when the radiant is highest. You can report bright fireballs to the American Meteor Society.
How to Find Out Which Satellite You Saw
Orbital Radar tracks every catalogued object in orbit in real time. To identify the specific satellite you saw:
- Open the Orbital Radar live tracker
- Allow location access or enter your city
- Use the time scrubber to rewind to the time you saw the light
- Look for satellites passing over your location at that time
- Click any satellite to see its name, altitude, and orbit
The ISS Tracker also includes a pass predictor that shows upcoming visible passes with exact times, directions, and brightness — so you can plan your next sighting. Or use our reverse pass identifier to describe what you saw and get an instant match.
Frequently Asked Questions
A bright, steady, non-blinking light moving smoothly across the sky is almost certainly a satellite. The brightest is usually the International Space Station (ISS), which can reach magnitude −5 — brighter than Venus. Use the Orbital Radar tracker to check what was overhead when you saw it.
A chain of evenly-spaced dots moving together is a recently launched batch of SpaceX Starlink satellites. They're visible as a "train" for 1–2 weeks after launch before spreading out. See our Starlink visibility guide.
The satellite entered Earth's shadow. It's still there — it's just no longer illuminated by the Sun. This happens on every evening pass and is completely normal. Morning passes show the reverse: a satellite appearing out of nowhere.
Satellites need to be sunlit while your sky is dark. This only happens during the 1–2 hours after sunset and before sunrise. During the middle of the night, most satellites are in Earth's shadow and invisible to ground observers.
Open the Orbital Radar live tracker. Use the time scrubber to rewind to the time you saw the light and check what was passing over your location. You can click any satellite to see its name, operator, altitude, and orbit details.
The vast majority of "UFO" sightings are identified as satellites (especially Starlink trains), aircraft, planets, or atmospheric phenomena. Use Orbital Radar to check what was overhead at the time — you will almost always find a match.
Re-entries can look dramatic (fireballs breaking into fragments), but the vast majority of material burns up in the atmosphere. The risk to anyone on the ground is extremely low. You can report bright fireballs to the American Meteor Society. See our Re-entry Tracker for currently predicted re-entries.
Yes — several hundred satellites are bright enough to see without any equipment. The ISS is the brightest at magnitude −5. Tiangong, Hubble, and recently launched Starlink trains are also easily visible. On a clear twilight evening you can typically spot 10–50 satellite passes per hour. See our brightest satellites ranking.
Satellites produce a steady, non-blinking light and always move in a smooth straight line. Aircraft have mandatory anti-collision lights that flash at regular intervals, often with red, green, or white colours. Aircraft may also change direction or altitude — satellites never do. This single rule resolves most sightings.
The ISS appears as a very bright, steady, non-blinking light moving smoothly across the sky. At peak brightness (magnitude −5) it rivals Venus. A typical pass takes 2–6 minutes to cross from horizon to horizon. It doesn't flash, doesn't change colour, and moves in a perfectly straight line. See the ISS Tracker for live position and pass times.
Major annual meteor showers include the Quadrantids (January), Lyrids (April), Eta Aquariids (May), Perseids (August), Orionids (October), Leonids (November), and Geminids (December). The Perseids and Geminids typically produce the highest rates at 100–150 meteors per hour under ideal dark sky conditions.