Starlink Satellite Trains
A line of evenly spaced lights gliding silently across the sky — usually a freshly launched batch of SpaceX Starlink satellites.
Tell-tale sign
Evenly spaced points of light moving in a straight line, all at the same speed, no blinking and no sound.
What you see
A neat string of star-like lights, sometimes dozens of them, following each other along the same path like beads on an invisible wire. Each light is steady — no flashing red or green navigation lights, and no engine noise.
The train is brightest and tightest in the first few days after a launch, when the satellites are still bunched together at low altitude. Over the following weeks they spread out and climb, until they're too faint and scattered to notice.
Why it happens
SpaceX launches Starlink satellites 20–60 at a time. They're released in a cluster and slowly raise their orbits with ion thrusters, so for a while they travel in a conga line. Sunlight glints off their flat panels, making them visible from the ground for a minute or two around dusk and dawn.
You are seeing reflected sunlight, not lights on the craft. That's why passes only happen when the sky where you stand is dark but the satellites, high above, are still lit by the Sun.
How to confirm
Note the time and direction and check a pass predictor — sites like findstarlink.com list upcoming Starlink trains for your location, and this platform's Sky Tonight page flags Starlink activity for your coordinates.
A recent launch, a line of silent evenly spaced lights moving steadily in one direction at twilight, and a matching entry in a pass predictor together identify a Starlink train with near certainty.