Showcasing satellites

BBC Sky at Night Magazine

August 2025

A timelapse composite that reveals our crowded skies

- Matt Jackson

Since Russia launched Sputnik 1 into low Earth orbit in 1957, thousands of satellites have begun congesting the skies over our planet – something anyone shooting night-sky timelapses will be keenly aware of.

Having spent much of the past five years doing just that, I started considering ways to create a timelapse composite that showcased these satellite trails. Here I'll run through the steps I took to make 'Big Brother is Watching You', my highly commended image in the People and Space category of 2024's APY competition.

I captured the frames for this image in the early evening. Satellites are most visible a few hours before sunset and after sunrise, when the Sun is low enough to darken the skies, but at an angle that its light strikes the satellites. This timelapse comprised one hour of six-second exposures at f/1.4 and ISO 5000.

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