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Fig. 1.

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Discrete realisation of the Starlink Generation 2 constellation overlaid on a map of Earth. The day and night sides of Earth are shown for 2022 June 21 at 23:00UTC, near the June solstice. Satellites are shown as either sunlit (yellow), or eclipsed by the Earth (black) and above the horizon for two geographical locations, Vera Rubin Observatory in Chile (latitude −30°) and London in the United Kingdom (latitude ∼50°). Over-densities of satellites in geographic latitude b are visible at latitudes |b| = 30°, 40° and 53°, corresponding to the inclination of the most populous orbital shells. Due to their orbital altitudes, satellites remain visible for locations where the Sun is below the horizon and will remain visible throughout all the night for locations at high geographical latitudes.

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