organiser of an American Astronomical Society league in Hawaii held a special session to discuss the ways in which satellite megaconstellations , such as the one presently being built by SpaceX , are poised to interrupt telescopic observations . The astronomer also proposed potential solutions to this emerging problem .
The special session , entitle “ Challenges to Astronomy from Satellites , ” was held yesterday at the 235th Meeting of the American Astronomical Society ( AAS ) currently being defy in Honolulu , Hawaii . The session , chair by Connie Walker from the National Science Foundation ’s Optical - Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory in Tucson , Arizona , was inspire by recent developments relating to the construction of the SpaceX Starlink megaconstellation , but the point of the meeting was to discuss the prospect in general , as several other firms are planning to work up satisfying satellite constellation of their own .
That Starlink was a focal point of the get together barely registers as a surprise . SpaceX has now launch three batches of its small - sats , which place the entire number at around 180 . Each launch has been accompanied by a idle show , in which an orderly onward motion of Starlink satellites have been seen travel rapidly across the nighttime sky . This train - like effect lasts for a week or more until the satellites scatter to their higher help orbits , but even then they are still visible to the naked eye . Perhaps unsurprisingly , Starlink trains havealready disruptedastronomical observations .
A SpaceX Falcon 9 lifts off from Cape Canaveral in Florida carrying 60 Starlink satellites, 4 February 2025.Image: (SpaceX)
https://gizmodo.com/elon-musk-s-starlink-satellites-are-already-causing-a-h-1839926662
That ’s certainly one trouble , but another has to do with the cobwebby volume of artificial satellite expected to enter into orbit over the fall years . SpaceX ultimately want its Starlink configuration to dwell of tens of chiliad of satellite , while other companies , such as OneWeb , Telsat , and Amazon , are hop to build their own multi - satellite constellations . The private sector is set to increase the telephone number of objects in space by an edict of order of magnitude , and this unprecedented experiment — without any apparent thought to the consequences — could disrupt astronomical reflexion to an alarming degree .
Jonathan McDowell , an astronomer at Harvard - Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and an expert on satellite , pay heed this peculiar AAS seance and talked to his equal about the subject . He also met with SpaceX reps .
“ I do believe SpaceX is making a in effect - faith effort to fix the problem , ” McDowell told Gizmodo in an email . “ I think they can get the artificial satellite fainter than what the raw optic can see , which is a minimal affair to not spoil the nighttime sky for non - astronomers . ”
As for professional astronomers , he fears there will be times of the twelvemonth when these satellite will flummox “ at lower limit a heavy job , ” suppose he worries there will be issues astronomers have not even think of yet .
During yesterday ’s session , Patricia Cooper , the vice United States President of planet governing affairs for SpaceX , say the “ grade of cleverness and visibility was a surprise to us,”reportedSpaceNews .
This unexpected luminosity , said Cooper , is a upshot of the satellite have got to be posit in a low field as well as the way in which their turgid solar arrays are initially oriented . Once in their stand for orbits , some 550 kilometers ( 342 miles ) above Earth , their luminousness is immensely diminish , but they can still be seen from the basis .
SpaceX has respond to this job . For the most late deployment — in which SpaceX becamethe largest commercial artificial satellite operator in the world — one Starlink satellite was care for with a special dark coating intended to diminish its coefficient of reflection . We wo n’t jazz if this solution will work until February , when the satellites go into service .
In addition , the secret space company is take a leak the coordinate of each Starlink artificial satellite uncommitted to astronomers , who can practice this selective information when be after their observation , accordingto the Washington Post .
“ We do n’t get it on yet if these palliation are useful and efficacious , ” said Cooper . “ We run to work very quickly . We be given to examine , learn and iterate . ”
The school term also addressed megaconstellations in general , discussing the ways in which these satellite arrays could charm scientific watching , whether these satellites are used for telecommunications , as is the case for Starlink , or sweeping surveys of the Earth ’s surface , such as the proposedICEYEconstellation , which would involve fleets of satellites equipped with man-made - aperture radiolocation ( SAR ) .
Speaking at the academic term , astronomer Patrick Seitzer from the University of Michigan discourage of the deleterious effect , such as multiple streak on images , ghost - comparable artefact , the saturation of detector with light , and interference with electronic gadget , the BBCreported .
“ Mega - constellations in Low Earth Orbit are coming and they are follow fast , ” Seitzer was cite as read in the BBC . “ The new satellites are brilliant than 99 % of objects in electron orbit , ” adding that the initial wad of Starlink sats is “ just the commencement . ”
Seitzer recommended that SpaceX make it so that its Starlink satellites are not seeable to the nude eye even when in their service of process orbits and that the society lick to reduce the brightness of these aim to prevent the over - saturation of large professional telescopes , the BCC report . Upsettingly , he say theVera C. Rubin Observatory , antecedently known as the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope , will be badly feign by megaconstellations , as this observatory , with its extremely raw equipment , will map the entire sky once every three days .
Another trouble mentioned at the conference is the threat of overweening radio interference coming from some of these satellites , such as the aforesaid ICEYE . Speaking to reporters at the group discussion , Harvey Liszt from the National Radio Astronomy Observatory ( NRAO ) , said if SAR is pointed at a radio telescope that ’s looking directly back at it , SAR “ will burn out the radio receiver astronomy receiver , ” account the BBC .
Hopefully these discussions will further compel the individual sector to take on sensible exercise prior to lobbing their mathematical product into space . It ’s deep disappointing that we ’re having these conversation so deep into the secret plan . Being capable to omen that ten of thousands — or possibly even hundred of thousands — of satellites in low Earth orbit will affect our view of the cosmos is n’t on the button rocket science .
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