Have you ever wondered if you can see satellites with or without a telescope? Can satellites be seen with the naked eye? If not, can instruments like a telescope or binoculars help us see the satellites? I’ll answer all these questions in this article.
Yes, you can see satellites with a telescope. Even satellites can be seen with the naked eye too! You need to know when and where to look.
Now, I will explain how you can see satellites with a telescope.
So, let’s get started!
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How Many Satellites Can You See?
Currently, more than 35,000 satellites orbit our Earth. It is not difficult to spot them. If you can look at the sky near dusk or dawn when the sky is relatively darker, you’ll see one of the 35,000 satellites within just 15 minutes.
However, among these 35,000 satellites, most are junk rock pieces. Their sizes range from a softball to about 30 feet. There is an organization that keeps track of all these orbiting rocky debris. It is the JSpOC (Joint Space Operation Center).
Most of these satellites can’t be seen with the naked eye. But, of course, you can observe them with a good range telescope. You can observe about a few hundreds of these satellites with the naked eye. Most of these satellites are about 20 feet and hang low in the atmosphere (about 100 to 400 miles from the ground).