How to spot a satellite

You can use Satellite Tracking Software like DESA Satellite Tracker to predict when and where a satellite will appear. You can download DESA Satellite Tracker from http://www.reddiligence.com/ (click on Project DESA - It’s free!).

Satellites are only visible for about an hour after sunset and an hour before sunrise. The reason for this is that the sky needs to be dark but the satellite still needs to be in sunlight to reflect sunlight back to the observer.

The program has an alarm that will alert you to satellites that would be visible (of the ones that you are tracking). If any satellite has an elevation of more than 10 degrees the alarm will sound. When you hear the alarm look at the alert message at the left hand corner of the screen to see what satellite is visible. Click on the satellite to get the details.

In the lookup info section you will see elevation and azimuth.

The elevation is the degrees above the horizon that you should look at and the azimuth is the direction (click on the image above).

From the display in DESA Satellite Tracker you will also be able to see where it is coming from and where it is going.