Residents in the capital area who looked up at the sky shortly after 10 p.m. last night were likely astonished to see a long, bright streak resembling a glowing rod made up of many stars gliding across the night sky.
mbl.is received a video of the sighting, shown above, from a family relaxing in a hot tub in Hafnarfjörður around 10:20 p.m.
For those unfamiliar with such phenomena, it would be easy to assume this was a UFO. However, according to Sævar Helgi Bragason, geologist and owner of the northern lights and astronomy website Icelandatnight.is, the phenomenon was in fact caused by satellites belonging to the American company Starlink.
“These are Starlink satellites traveling in a line — 24 in total — after being launched from Vandenberg, California, at 5:55 p.m. yesterday,” explains Bragason, who is often nicknamed “Star-Sævar.”
Already disrupting research
There are currently about 8,400 Starlink satellites orbiting Earth. Their purpose is to create a global network providing internet access around the world.
Bragason says that in the future, there will likely be tens of thousands of satellites in the constellation. Even now, they are affecting the appearance of the night sky as seen from Earth and are already interfering with astronomical research.
The line of satellites seen last night was not the first Starlink sighting from Iceland, nor will it be the last, according to Bragason.
Just last week, another similar string of satellites was visible from Iceland, and Sævar says he received numerous inquiries about the phenomenon.