NASA astronaut shows shining photo of Earth from space: traces of thousands of Starlink caught in the frame

Astronaut Don Pettit, who is currently on the International Space Station (ISS), showed a vivid photo of the Earth from space. In addition to clearly defined star trails, the images show something interesting: short streaks that seem to be "winking".

A NASA astronaut explained on his page on the X network that the traces of Starlink were caught in the frame. Currently, there are more than 6,500 satellites in orbit from the American company SpaceX.

"In contrast to the clearly defined streaks from the star trails, this image shows fuzzy streaks flashing on the ISS. These are Starlink satellites that reflect pre-sunset or pre-dawn sunlight from their solar panels. They can only be seen at a distance of 5 to 18 degrees before or after the Sun," Don Pettit said in his post under the published photos.

According to Pettit, since Starlink's solar panels are oriented outward, they create bright lights. However, Starlink's flashes are not aimed at the Earth, but they are clearly visible from orbit.

"Starlink satellites look like a miniature version of the monolith from the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey," where the large flat surface of the monolith is directed to the Earth, and the solar panel sticks out like a fin on the back of a dimetrodon," the NASA astronaut made an interesting comparison.

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