Astronomers stand up to satellite mega-constellations
Astronomy is finally putting up a co-ordinated front to defend its interests as thousands of satellites are placed in the sky.
Huge networks of spacecraft are being launched that are making it harder to get a clear view of the cosmos.
These low-orbiting, fast-moving satellites leave bright streaks across telescope images.
The International Astronomical Union is establishing a new centre to focus the community’s response.
Its work will be led by the US National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory (NOIRLab) in Tucson, Arizona; and by the Square Kilometre Array Organisation (SKAO) in Manchester, UK. The latter is most concerned with the satellites’ effects on radio astronomy.
The new Centre for the Protection of the Dark and Quiet Sky from Satellite Constellation Interference will try to act as a single voice for astronomy.
It will engage with, and encourage, satellite companies to make every effort to minimise the light pollution they are creating. But it will also pursue policymakers around the world to tighten the regulations on what is acceptable behaviour in orbit.
“The IAU’s primary priority is to take [a] cooperative approach with industry and have them establish a voluntary corporate culture that looks to mitigate these impacts,” said Richard Green from the University of Arizona.
The dramatic reduction in the cost of rocket launches, linked to a similar reduction in the cost of building satellites, has led to a rush to place new infrastructure in the sky.
Of immediate concern are the constellations designed to deliver broadband internet connections from space. These involve placing many hundreds to many thousands of satellites just a few hundred kilometres above the Earth.
At this altitude, they move quickly across the sky, and at dawn and dusk when the Sun is low on the horizon will catch the light and trace a bright line through a telescope’s exposure.
The satellites’ transmissions can also, if not tightly constrained, bleed across the frequencies used by astronomy’s radio antennas.
Two broadband projects – US entrepreneur Elon Musk’s Starlink network and the UK-headquartered OneWeb initiative – are leading the new wave of constellations, and have between them launched over 2,000 satellites, but both have plans for many, many more.
As do other companies and nations. The Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos is preparing his Kuiper network. And the EU, for example, wants its own broadband network in orbit by the middle of this decade.
Federico Di Vruno, from the SKAO and co-director of the new centre, said important science was at risk if a free-for-all was permitted.
He cited the radio detectors that study the cosmic microwave background, which is the oldest light in the sky and gives us a glimpse of the structure and contents of the Universe shortly after the Big Bang. These detectors could be blinded by the downlinks from the constellation satellites, he said. And in optical/visible astronomy, Dr Di Vruno raised the issue of planetary defence.
“At optical wavelengths, observations with long exposure times will be affected the most, particularly in the hours close to twilight, and observing low on the horizon. A prime example would be the potential hazardous asteroid research done by the international asteroid warning network,” he explained.
Connie Walker from NOIRLab and the other co-director of the new centre added: “As the number of satellites continues to grow, astronomy is facing a watershed moment of increasing interference with observations and loss of science.
“By the end of a decade, more than 5,000 satellites will be above the horizon at any given time at a typical dark-sky observatory location. A few 100 to several 1,000 of these satellites will be illuminated by the Sun. These satellites will be detectable by even the smallest optical or infrared telescopes, depending on the hour of the night and the season.”
The new centre will impress on the companies the need to provide accurate and up-to-date information on the co-ordinates of their satellites so their movements can be anticipated when planning astronomical observations.
The centre will also become a knowledge bank to develop and host software that can be used to “clean” telescope imagery.
And, critically, it will act as a forum to discuss with industry voluntary measures that can be implemented to minimise the intrusiveness of the satellites. A good example has been SpaceX’s and OneWeb’s willingness to discuss how they can reduce the reflectivity of their spacecraft by applying different coatings or sunshields.
“It’s better to make these agreements than to go through regulations. But we’re hopeful in talking with them already that some compromises can be made,” said Dr Walker.
See more here: bbc.co.uk
Header image: M. Lewinsky
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clarence
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This article is absolute tripe. No satellites exist. Pure science fiction.
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Doug Harrison
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They aught to put you on one and leave you up there till you wake up Clarence.
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Glenn
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Assuming you are not speaking sarcastically Clarence, this is something you can easily resolve, one way or the other, for yourself. i.e. Do your own science (via observation).
Go somewhere with a dark, clear sky (where you can see stars down to magnitude six or better) and look up just after dark, or before first light. Then report back to us what you observe – those little lights moving across the sky. Note when they appear and disappear, depending on the time, their direction, etc. Come back with your hypothesis, and tell us how you would test it.
You remind me of a chap I knew, who adamantly informed me that you couldn’t see the Moon in the day time. He was dumbfounded when I pointed to it. He Believed. But he had never bothered to look up and check.
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clarence
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Nope not being sarcastic at all. The 2 of you should really do some research beyond the canned ham lies of NASA and Popular Culture. Sure they send rockets up in the air but they always end up going 90 degrees to the flat horizon which just prior to, they cut the film and switch over to their NASA / Hollywierd studios and show us CGI, green screens and sound stages with plenty O nonsense. What they don’t show is their rockets sputtering out and dropping into the ocean. Which is why they always launch from Cape Canaveral and close out the ocean Eastward so there are no witnesses. If anyone sees anything drop they will just say it was an intermediate stage or some other BS.
GPS is really just repurposed LORAN and OMEGA from back in the day. All ground based triangulation.
No space and no globe and certainly no satellites. We all live on a flat earth that is enclosed by the Firmament. No way out. The lights you see could be anything, planes, weather balloons. By the way did either of you two “rocket scientists” know that NASA is by far the biggest user of helium in the world? Hmm I wonder why that is? Could it be that so called satellites are really just high altitude helium balloons? Seems highly likely.
See gents we live in a lie filled world. The entire world has been subverted and lied to for the last 2 years by the covid plandemic. Every single country on this flat realm tells it’s sheeple the same exact lies. They are acting in Rothschild / Rockefeller lockstep as described by many documents such as the Rockefeller institute papers written in 2013 which describe this plandemic in exact detail as well as the Bill Gates Foundation event 201 symposium that was choreographed in October of 2019 just in time to “simulate” this abomination of lies that enslave humanity now. No other explanation can be made except that the entire world is already under the control of a single, evil cabal. Individual country sovereignty is simply an illusion to give the people hope as they are all kept under control. Governments = middle management that follow orders from the cabal.
So you two are of the mindset that perhaps the Plandemic and Global warming are frauds but for some reason unable to go further and see that “they” lie about all things. Why hold the fake globe and fake space sacred? Just because this website believes in the non-existent space and globe does not make it true. Grow. Evolve. Research and set yourselves free from the lies and deceptions. I have convinced myself that the earth is not a globe back in 2016. Not easily done, I assure you. I took about 6 months thoroughly researching everything I could find and doing my own experiments looking for “curvature” as well as applying 100s of examples on the possibility of flat versus sphere before I gave up and admitted to myself that there simply is no way that this earth is a sphere. NO WAY. I can’t unsee and unlearn what I now hold to be true. If you really take the time and put in the effort you will see it too.
I guess there is still hope. You are here on a website that at least questions some things. Free the mind and maybe the rest will follow. Otherwise the billions of useless eaters and mindless nitwits will continue to be enslaved on this plane.
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Dave Hunt
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Clarence,
You know the truth. Why can’t someone see satellites crossing the moon. I have a nice telescope and have never seen a shadow of one. Why can you be on the East side of Lake Michigan and see the buildings in Chicago? They say it is a reflection off the atmosphere, WOW!!! I guess I can’t believe my lying eyes!
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