Can you see the satellites in geosynchronous orbit?

Question

Something like 99% of the satellite TV satellites are in geosynchronous (aka geostationary) orbit in the Clarke belt about 22,000 miles above the equator.

Can you see these satellites with the naked eye? And how would you figure what times to look for them?

Answer 1

No.  They're too far away and too small.  They would be only about 1/20,000 as bright as low orbit satellites.

Answer 2

No, they are much too faint. You can see them with a telescope, though. I found one by accident with my 12-inch 'scope. Pretty cool - turned the clock drive off, and watched the stars drift past this stationary "star." I think it was about 11th or 12th magnitude. You can only see to 6th with the naked eye.

And Brant is right - if you figure at 22,300 miles above the surface they're roughly 100 times as far as low orbit satellites at 100 - 200 miles, then the brightness will be less by a factor of one over the distance squared, or one over ten thousand. Every five magnitudes is a factor of 100 times in brightness, so 10,000 being equal to 100 x 100 you've got two jumps of five magnitudes, or ten magnitudes fainter than an LEO satellite, which can be first but is more often second or fainter, so the one I saw at 11th or 12th magnitude is in the ballpark of what is expected. Yeah, no, too faint to see unaided.

Answer 3

These satellites are far too faint to be seen with the naked eye. I have seen a time exposure photo taken through a large telescope, however, where the satellites appear as dots and the stars as trails passing them.

If you have a telescope, figuring the times to look for them is easy. They are visible whenever it's dark. Just look in the direction in which your satellite dish is pointing.