Satellites Tonight

Can I see Starlink tonight in Botshabelo?

No visible passes tonight.

Next good chance: Wednesday 14 Oct at 4:47 am, looking north-northwest.

Updated Times in local time (SAST)-29.27°, 26.73°
Next pass · Wednesday 14 Oct
Appears
4:47 am
north-northwest, 15°
Highest
5:11 am
35° north-northeast
Fades
5:12 am
east-northeast, 11°
NESW
≈ mag 4 · moderateTrain · 22 satellitesLaunch 2026-225 · 28 September 2026

The next 8 nights at a glance

7 visible passes
dark skytraineasy (mag ≤ 3.5)moderate (≤ 4)faint (≤ 5)

Pass times, night by night

start · path · brightness

Tonight · Wednesday 7 Oct

dark 6:42 pm – 5:19 am
No visible passes tonight.

Thursday 8 Oct – Sunday 11 Oct

no visible passes

Monday 12 Oct

dark 6:45 pm – 5:13 am
4:27 amto 4:56 am · 29 min
NNE → NE, highest 16° NNEappears north-northeast at 10°, low at the top
≈ mag 5 · faintTrain · 24

Tuesday 13 Oct

dark 6:46 pm – 5:12 am
4:27 amto 4:30 am · 3 min
N → ENE, highest 18° NNEappears north at 17°, low at the top
≈ mag 5 · faintTrain · 1
4:47 amto 5:12 am · 25 min
NNW → ENE, highest 35° NNEappears north-northwest at 15°, halfway up at the top
≈ mag 4 · moderateTrain · 22

Wednesday 14 Oct

dark 6:46 pm – 5:11 am
3:50 amto 4:05 am · 15 min
ENE → ENE, highest 19° NEappears east-northeast at 12°, low at the top
≈ mag 5 · faintTrain · 9
4:10 amto 4:11 am · 2 min
NE → ENE, highest 21° NEappears northeast at 21°, low at the top
≈ mag 4.5 · faintTrain · 1
4:44 amto 4:48 am · 4 min
NW → E, highest 38° NNEappears northwest at 18°, halfway up at the top
≈ mag 3.5 · easyTrain · 1
5:01 amto 5:11 am · 11 min
WNW → E, highest 54° Nappears west-northwest at 12°, high at the top
≈ mag 3 · easyTrain · 6

Magnitude is an estimate (lower = brighter; 3 is easy, 5 needs a dark sky). Predictions for satellites that are still raising their orbits can shift by a few minutes from one update to the next; check again before you go out. How we compute this.

Seeing Starlink from Botshabelo

Botshabelo is at 29.3°S. Tonight the sky is dark enough from 6:42 pm until 5:19 am. A Starlink satellite only shows when it is still in sunlight while you are in darkness, so the passes bunch up in the first hours after dusk and the last hours before dawn, not around midnight. Over the next 8 nights we found 7 visible passes (0 in the evening, 7 before dawn); 3 of them should be easy to spot (estimated magnitude 4 or brighter).

The best one is on Thursday 15 Oct at 5:01 am: it appears in the west-northwest, climbs to 54° in the north and fades in the east at about magnitude 3.

The passes come from these launches:

Satellites from launch 2026-219 (20 September 2026) are also low and bright, but they do not pass over Botshabelo while it is dark and they are sunlit in this period.

Questions

Can I see Starlink tonight in Botshabelo?

No visible passes tonight. Next good chance: Wednesday 14 Oct at 4:47 am, looking north-northwest.

When is the next Starlink train over Botshabelo?

Tuesday 13 Oct at 4:27 am: 24 satellites from launch 2026-225, appearing in the north-northeast and reaching 16°.

Which direction should I look for Starlink from Botshabelo?

This week most passes appear in the north-northeast or north. Each pass above lists where it appears, how high it climbs and where it fades.

Nearby cities

All of South Africa →
Bloemfontein 52 kmWelkom 143 kmVanderbijlpark 304 kmVereeniging 312 kmEvaton 323 kmSoweto 352 km

Before you go out

How to spot StarlinkWhat the Starlink train isWhy some nights have nothing