Spotting Planes at Night by Their Lights

Short answer: At night an aircraft shows a red light on its left wingtip, a green light on its right and a white light at the tail, plus a flashing red beacon and usually white strobes. If you see a steady light gliding silently with no blinking, it is more likely a satellite; if it does not move relative to the stars, it is a star or planet.

6 min read · Updated October 11, 2026

The basic light pattern

Aircraft lights follow international rules so that pilots, and people on the ground, can tell which way an aircraft is pointing in the dark. On almost every aircraft you will see:

Navigation lights: a steady red light on the left wingtip, a steady green light on the right wingtip and a steady white light at the tail. One way to remember it: "red, port, left" all have fewer letters than "green, starboard, right".
Anti-collision beacon: a flashing or rotating red light, usually on top of and underneath the fuselage. It is switched on before engine start and stays on whenever the engines are running.
Strobe lights: bright white flashes on the wingtips, and often the tail, that are on whenever the aircraft is on the runway or flying. Airliners often use a double-flash pattern.
Landing lights: very bright white lights pointing forward, used for takeoff and landing. Many pilots also turn them on below 10,000 ft to be more visible.

Working out which way it is going

The coloured lights tell you the aircraft's direction relative to you:

What you see	What it means
Red on the left, green on the right	Coming toward you
Green on the left, red on the right	Going away from you
Only red visible	Its left side faces you; it is crossing from your left to your right
Only green visible	Its right side faces you; it is crossing from your right to your left
Steady white only	You are looking at its tail; it is going away
Blinding white light that seems to hover	Landing lights; it is heading toward you, probably on approach

A plane on final approach toward you can appear to hang motionless for a minute or more, because it is moving almost directly at you. This is one of the most common sources of "hovering light" sightings near airports. Check the live sky tool: you will usually find a jet a few thousand feet up, descending at 700 to 800 feet per minute.

Helicopters at night

Helicopters carry the same red, green and white navigation lights and a red beacon, but they behave differently. They move slowly, can hover and turn on the spot, and are often low. Police and some news helicopters may sweep a bright searchlight on the ground. Air medical helicopters usually have the standard lights plus strobes and bright landing lights. And you will hear them: the rotor sound carries well on quiet nights. See why helicopters circle for what they might be doing.

Planes vs satellites

Satellites do not carry lights. You see them only because they reflect sunlight, which happens in the first hour or two after sunset and before sunrise, when the sky is dark but satellites hundreds of kilometres up are still in sunshine. Telltale signs of a satellite:

A steady point of light with no blinking and no colours.
Silent, moving in a straight line at a constant speed.
Often fades out partway across the sky as it enters Earth's shadow.
Crosses a large part of the sky in a few minutes.

The International Space Station is the brightest; it can outshine almost every star and crosses the sky in about four to six minutes. Some satellites briefly flare brightly as sunlight glints off a flat surface.

Starlink "trains"

For a few days after a launch, a batch of Starlink satellites travels close together, appearing as a line of evenly spaced lights moving in single file. It is a striking sight and surprises many people. The satellites spread out and become much fainter as they rise to their working orbit, so older Starlinks are hard to spot without knowing where to look. A train is never on an aircraft map, which is one way to rule it out.

Planes vs stars and planets

Stars and planets do not move relative to each other over a few minutes. Hold your hand or a rooftop against the light: if it stays put, it is not an aircraft. Venus and Jupiter in particular can be extremely bright and low on the horizon in the evening, sometimes looking like an approaching landing light. Stars twinkle and can flash colours when low because of air turbulence, which can mimic a strobe, but they will not drift.

Planes vs drones

Drones are small and usually close, a few hundred feet up or less. In the US, drones flown commercially at night under the FAA's Part 107 rules must have anti-collision lighting visible for 3 statute miles, often a single flashing white or coloured light. Hobby drones may have any colour of LED. Clues that it is a drone rather than a plane:

Moves erratically, hovers, or changes direction abruptly.
No standard red-left, green-right pattern.
A high-pitched whine at close range, or no sound at all.
Not in the aircraft list. Drones flying under Part 107 are generally not allowed to transmit ADS-B Out; they broadcast Remote ID over Wi-Fi or Bluetooth instead, which aircraft maps do not show.

Coordinated drone light shows are another source of puzzling night lights: hundreds of drones forming shapes, usually announced in advance.

A night spotting routine

Note whether the light blinks. Blinking red or white points to an aircraft.
Look for coloured wingtip lights to get the direction.
Listen. Jets at cruise may be inaudible, but low aircraft and helicopters are not.
Open the live sky tool and match the bearing and elevation angle, as described in how to identify a plane overhead.
No match and no blinking? Think satellite, planet or drone.

Frequently asked questions

Which side of a plane has the red light?

The left wingtip has a steady red light and the right wingtip a steady green light. A steady white light is at the tail.

How can I tell a satellite from a plane at night?

Satellites shine with a steady light, never blink, make no sound and are mostly visible within a couple of hours of sunset or sunrise. Planes have flashing beacons or strobes.

Why does a plane near the airport seem to hover?

When an aircraft on approach is flying almost directly toward you, its position against the sky barely changes, so it seems to hang still while its landing lights grow brighter.

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