Low-orbit satellites are photo-bombing astronomers’ pictures of the night sky, ruining images and affecting their ability to make new discoveries
Photograph: Christian Bruna/EPAPhotograph: Christian Bruna/EPAThere’s a point at which light pollution starts to make astronomical observations impossible – a point we are fast approaching, thanks in part to Elon Musk., including its Starlink fleet. Another 12,000 Starlink launches have been approved, and SpaceX wants a further 30,000 second-generation satellites on top of that, covering the entire globe.
Satellites in low Earth orbit, including Starlink, also cause radio interference with sensitive astronomical instruments. The Australian government’s astronomer at large, Fred Watson, calls them the “new kid on the block” in light pollution.He told the Astronomical Society of Victoria this year the number of satellites in orbit could be heading for 100,000 by the end of the decade, as it gets ever cheaper to make and launch them.
She says light pollution is rapidly becoming a threat to observations that depend on extremely expensive machinery.
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