Confusing satellite-like object seen in night sky

Question

I was staring up at the stars around 11:30 PM and noticed an object moving. It had no lights, and was not bright whatsoever. It was moving smoothly and in a straight line, except extremely fast, and dead silent. It was fairly large too, compared to how big stars look. Never would have noticed it had I not been looking at that particular region of the sky at the exact moment I did. It had to have crossed the sky in less than a minute. In fact, I feel like I've seen this same kind of thing once or twice before.

My question is what did I see? The fact that it was extremely dim, extremely fast, and produced no sound really confuse me.

also related https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/questions/11634/star-like-light-moving-in-the-sky-what-could-it-be — J. Chomel, Oct 27 '17 at 06:23
Was the object point-like? I don't understand how a point can be "not bright" and "fairly large", as "big" stars only differ from small ones in brightness. — James K, Oct 27 '17 at 08:20
Blimps can move fairly quickly. Usually have running lights though. Are you in an area they frequent? — Wayfaring Stranger, Oct 28 '17 at 16:11

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Oct 29 '17 at 16:32

At first blush, this sounds like it was a large, low-Earth orbiting satellite, like the ISS for example. Depending upon the angle above the horizon the transit time could be very low s you described. Your position would determine whether the satellite was illuminated by the Sun or not at that local time.

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 29 '17 at 22:58

0

My guess, as @Tim said, is the ISS. I've seen it a few times, and it looks exactly as you've described. There are a few websites and mobile apps that can inform you of any satellites that are passing over your position; my go-to is heavens-above.com.

answered Oct 29 '17 at 22:58

Jim421616

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Confusing satellite-like object seen in night sky

2 Answers2