This string of 60 satellites were placed into low earth orbit last Thursday. They are the first of a proposed group of 12,000 Starlink telecommunications satellites being lauched by SpaceX, Elon Musk's rocket company. The company's goal is to use the satellites to create a mesh-like network around the planet itself. Moving data with laser beams, the satellite grid will provide fast and affordable internet access to every remote corner of the earth. Internet traffic can now move at close to the speed of light in a vacuum — nearly instantaneously.

The astronomer, Marco Langbroek, wrote in a blog post that he had calculated the search orbit himself to find out when they would pass by, and "stood ready" with his camera. The train zoomed by within three minutes of his predicted time. "It started with two faint, flashing objects moving into the field of view. Then, a few tens of seconds later, my jaw dropped as the 'train' entered the field of view," Langbroek wrote.