Young astronomer captures Starlink satellites over Ramsgate

Annabel, a member of the Ramsgate Stargazers who is still relatively young, managed to capture images of the satellites on her camera.

Last night, Annabel Rich, who is nine years old, was able to capture footage of the Elon Musk Starlink Satellites while stargazing with the Ramsgate Stargazers.

Annabel, a student of St. Peter's, along with her mother Belinda, visited the Observe the Moon event at Ramsgate Boating Pool. During the session, the young girl managed to snap this picture.

Starlink is an ambitious project being developed by the US-based company SpaceX, established by the visionary entrepreneur Elon Musk. It aims to revolutionize Internet access through a network of numerous small satellites that will orbit relatively close to the Earth's surface, supported by terrestrial transceivers. This advanced combination of technology holds the potential to offer unrivaled connectivity and communication capabilities to people all over the world.

In 2019, SpaceX began launching Starlink satellites. As of August 2023, they have already deployed more than 5,000 small satellites into low Earth orbit. They have plans to deploy nearly 12,000 more satellites in the future, and they may even extend that number to 42,000 at a later time.

Experts studying space have expressed worries about how the group of stars might impact Earth-based stargazing, as well as the ways in which the spacecraft will contribute to an already overcrowded space.

Discover Ramsgate Stargazers on Facebook by clicking this link.