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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Entertainment
Chris Slater & Emily Heward

When you can see the Starlink satellites flying over Greater Manchester on Saturday and Sunday

Stargazers will get another chance to see the starlink satellites in the skies over Greater Manchester again this weekend.

They are the brainchild of technology entrepreneur Elon Musk and his SpaceX company and are designed to provide internet service to remote locations across the world.

Each Starlink satellite is about the size of a car and they move in a very distinct line across the night sky.

They have already proved a hit with star watchers who managed to get clear views this week.

A Falcon 9 SpaceX rocket with the seventh batch of approximately 60 satellites for SpaceX's Starlink broadband network (AP)

And they are again due to pass over the UK on Saturday and Sunday.

Views can be obscured by the clouds but with largely clear skies forecast for Saturday, and some sunny spells expected despite rain on Sunday, you may still be able to catch a glimpse of them.

The satellites are so bright they can be seen without binoculars or a telescope.

Here are the times you may be able to see them:

Saturday April 25

9.45pm: Starlink-5,6 will be visible for six minutes, travelling from the west to the east (bright)

Sunday April 26

4.49am: Starlink-3 will be visible for six minutes, travelling from the west to the southeast

These are approximate optimum times for the north west of England and timings in other parts of the UK may vary by a few minutes.

However if you miss them there will be plenty of other chances to see them as they are expected to be visible for the foreseeable future.

SpaceX has already launched 422 of its satellites into low orbit around the Earth.

The US firm has been granted permission to fly 12,000 satellites as part of the project - a number that could eventually be increased to 30,000.

However there has been opposition from astronomers who believe they could interfere with ground-based observations into space.

You can enter your location here to find the days and times they'll be most visible in your area.

You can also track the satellites using the dedicated Starlink app, which automatically calculates when the SpaceX satellites are expected to be visible above your current location.

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