Starlink Satellites, Star Trails & Earth Airglow | International Space Station

Starlink Satellites, Star Trails & Earth Airglow | International Space Station

NASA astronaut and former International Space Station flight engineer Don Pettit: "Starlink satellites flashing white streaks into the time history of my orbital star trails. Bright flashes contrast against red-orange bands of atmospheric airglow."

NASA astronaut Don Pettit returned to Earth on April 19, 2025, concluding a seven-month science mission aboard the International Space Station. Pettit spent 220 days in space, earning him a total of 590 days in space over the course of his four spaceflights. He orbited the Earth 3,520 times, traveling 93.3 million miles in low-Earth orbit.

You will notice red-orange airglow in this image. Airglow occurs when atoms and molecules in the Earth's upper atmosphere, excited by sunlight, emit light to shed their excess energy. Or, it can happen when atoms and molecules that have been ionized by sunlight collide with and capture a free electron. In both cases, they eject a particle of light—called a photon—in order to relax again. The phenomenon is similar to auroras, but where auroras are driven by high-energy particles originating from the solar wind, airglow is energized by ordinary, day-to-day solar radiation. 

Unlike episodic and fleeting auroras, airglow shines constantly throughout Earth’s atmosphere, and the result is a tenuous bubble of light that closely encases our entire planet. (Auroras, on the other hand, are usually constrained to Earth’s poles.) Just a tenth as bright as all the stars in the night sky, airglow is far more subdued than auroras, too dim to observe easily except in orbit or on the ground with clear, dark skies and a sensitive camera.

Starlink is a satellite internet constellation operated by Starlink Services, LLC, an international telecommunications provider that is a wholly owned subsidiary of American aerospace company SpaceX, providing coverage to around 150 countries and territories.

Follow Expedition 74:

https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/

Expedition 74 Crew

Station Commander: Mike Fincke (NASA)

JAXA Flight Engineer (Japan): Kimiya Yui

Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers: Oleg Platonov, Sergey-Kud Sverchkov, Sergei Mikaev

NASA Flight Engineers: Zena Cardman, Chris Williams

Image Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center/D. Pettit

Release Date: Dec. 28, 2025

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