Astronomers warn: either megaconstellations or new astronomical discoveries
Better late than never. Hundreds of astronomers have warned that the development of mega-constellations such as Starlink and Kuiper could have a huge impact on all astronomy and the progress of science.
A 60-page report compiled during the Satellite Constellations 1 (Satcon1) workshop indicates that the constellations of bright satellites will fundamentally change the development of terrestrial astronomical observations in optical and infrared radiation, not to mention the appearance of the night sky for all inhabitants of the Earth.
The workshop organized by the American Astronomical Society (AAS) was attended by over 250 astronomers, satellite operators and people who called for the preservation of the dark sky. The aim of the workshop was to determine the effect of a large number of satellites on astronomical observations.
Bright satellites are dark clouds hanging over astronomy
In a report published yesterday, astronomers write that in the worst case scenario, satellite constellations can completely inhibit some research projects.
Over the next few years, SpaceX plans to send over 30,000 satellites to low Earth orbit that will provide high-speed internet across the Earth. The authors of the report note, however, that the constellation Starlink itself can double the number of space objects visible to the naked eye in the sky after dark.
Minimizing the harmful effects of satellites is possible by "dimming them", "keeping them in low orbit", "arranging them in space so that they reflect less light", but most of all "not sending them at all".
Astronomers overslept
For almost a year, SpaceX has been accused of destroying the night sky with its satellites, of which there are currently around 500 in orbit. The first batches of satellites visible in the night sky as bright lines consisting of bright points, the so-called "trains", amazed so lovers of the night Heaven and astronomers, who until then did not realize how much influence these satellites will have on their research.
Last month, a number of astronomers criticized SpaceX for how Starlink satellites made it difficult to photograph and study Comet Neowise, which only passes near Earth once in 6,800 years.
Many images of the comet, as well as other space objects, are crisscrossed by numerous light bands, which are traces of satellites passing through the field of view of the telescopes while the images are taken.
New solutions are still not enough
However, it must be admitted that SpaceX is testing many different solutions aimed at minimizing the visibility of satellites. Some of the satellites were covered with a darker color, some were placed in space so that they reflected less light, and the last few series of satellites received special sunshades that minimize the amount of reflected light, while not heating the satellite’s electronics.
AAS, organizer of the Satcon1 workshop, is working with Elon Muska to test and develop new methods to minimize the impact of satellites on astronomical observations. SpaceX, in turn, argues that it also cooperates on this issue with the National Radio Astronomical Observatory (NROA) and the Green Bank Observatory.
Prof. Tony Tyson of the University of California at Davis argues that SpaceX plans to make the satellites 10 times darker to remove traces of passing satellites from the images.
However, this does not change the fact that even if there are no traces in the image, there will still be traces of satellites in the data, making data analysis much more difficult, and many scientific discoveries will go unnoticed.
If we have tens of thousands of satellites in low Earth orbit, there is no such combination of countermeasures that would allow the satellites to completely eliminate the influence of satellites on research programs conducted with the use of astronomical telescopes built today.
– says prof. Tyson.
Astronomers warn: either megaconstellations or new astronomical discoveries
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