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Bright light spotted moving across night sky over Ottawa

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A line of bright flying lights caught the attention of Ottawa stargazers Friday night.

"Strange object in the sky over Findlay Creek," Troy Crosby said in an email to CTV News Ottawa.

Video and pictures show an illuminated line moving across the night sky shortly before 10 p.m.

"It wasn't a meteor as it was consistent," Crosby said. "It disappeared shortly after."

Hafed Nabbus told CTV News Ottawa the light was moving fast, "then it disappeared in the dark."

Stargazers also reported seeing the illuminated line soaring through the night sky in Montreal at approximately the same time.

Gary Boyle, the Backyard Astronomer, tells CTV News Ottawa the bright line of light moving across the sky was a Starlink satellite train. The Starlink train is a chain of satellites launched by SpaceX.

"Over the next few days the satellites will stretch out and move into higher orbits," Boyle said Saturday afternoon.

The website findstarlink.com, which tracks satellites' locations, said Starlink-55 would be visible for four minutes at approximately 9:43 p.m. and 9:45 p.m. over Ottawa. Astronomers were directed to look northwest to north to see Starlink-55.

SpaceX launched 53 Starlink internet satellites on Friday from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

With files from CTV News Montreal's Luca Caruso-Moro

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