how we’re able to see satellites in low earth orbits during the night?

Question

Shouldn’t the earth block their view of the sun, and stop them from lighting up?

Also I’m aware that the satellites have a much higher vantage point and can see the sun even when it’s dark below them but surely in the middle of the night they’d all be blocked out?

In: Physics

Answer 1

>surely in the middle of the night they’d all be blocked out

You are correct there. Unless the satellite has its own light source (there have been a couple of satellites that had bright LED lights as experiments), they rely on the sun and reflected sunlight to be visible. If you see something in the sky in the middle of the night, it is likely not a satellite.