COLUMBIA, S.C. — UPDATE: It appears that the satellite train was not visible over the Carolinas as forecast Sunday night, even though it was tracked over the region. This could be due to sun shield deployment, but nothing has been confirmed at this time.
The skies above South Carolina, including Columbia, will play host to an unusual visitor on Sunday night at around 8:50 p.m. But don't worry.
If you see something a little strange in the form of a string of lights passing above, the answer isn't alien - it's the internet.
A train of Starlink broadband satellites will pass over the Palmetto State and several others as they make their journey to a stable orbit. However, for now, they'll be pretty low - enough to stand out noticeably from the sky around them.
As our sister stations, WTHR and WTOL, reported earlier in the week when the satellites flew over Ohio, Starlink uses a network of more than 2,000 satellites orbiting Earth more than 340 miles up.
The satellites have found considerable use recently during humanitarian crises such as the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine and natural disasters such as the recent eruption of a massive volcano near Tonga.
But while they aren't as noticeable when they reach their destination, they are causing some concern among ground-based astronomers. For Midlands residents, however, they'll be more of an oddity on Sunday night than a permanent nuisance.
Want to track this batch of satellites and other Starlink launches? Visit FindStarlink.com.
