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Short · Space

Why do you mostly see satellites just after sunset?

A satellite makes no light; it reflects sunlight. At about 500 kilometers up, an overhead satellite can stay sunlit until the Sun is roughly 22 degrees below your horizon.

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Opens Satellite Dusk. Change the same thing yourself.

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Transcript

Why do you mostly see satellites just after sunset? They don't make light. They shine by reflecting sunlight. After the sun sets for you, a Starlink satellite about five hundred kilometers up can still be in sunlight, so it glows against a dark sky. Now let the night go on. Earth's shadow climbs higher and swallows the satellites one by one. Around midnight, most are usually in the dark, and invisible. Then the show repeats before dawn. Try it yourself at Explainer Tools dot com.