Re: Are satellites passing in front of the sun visible?

First, let me acknowledge your use of the projection method to view the Sun. It is important to protect one's eyes when viewing the Sun, and the projection method offers the most protection.

It is certainly possible, in principle, that you saw a satellite crossing in front of the Sun. There are numerous satellites in orbit, and your latitude is such that satellites would pass overhead or nearly so. (To be more specific, one would need to know the time of day at which you were observing.)

There are huge numbers of amateur viewers who enjoy the challenge of finding satellites. A Usenet group, sci.astro.satellites.visual-observe, as well as a number of Web sites provide additional information. If one is sufficiently interested, orbital elements, that is parameters that describe satellite orbits, are available for many satellites. One can obtain these orbital elements and predict when a satellite of interest is visible.

Examples of Web sites focussing on satellite viewing include Visual Satellite Observer's Home Page, Satellite Tracking WEB Page, and Heavens Above.