20% of Twilight Observations Contain Satellite Passes: by BrianKoberlein
With the rapid expansion of commercial space, there is a growing number of satellites in orbit around our planet. Most of these are in low-Earth orbit, which is becoming increasingly crowded. This has led some to be concerned about a catastrophic rise of space debris, as well as a growing frustration by astronomers due to the number ofCurrently, the biggest player is the SpaceX Starlink project, which currently has more than 1,700 satellites in low-Earth orbit.
A Starlink satellite trail seen across the Andromeda Galaxy. Credit: Caltech Optical Observatories/IPAC, the study looks at the number of Starlink trails seen in images captured by the Zwicky Transient Facility at Palomar Observatory. They found that from November 2019 to September 2021 there were more than 5,300 streaks seen in ZFT images. Most of the streaks were seen in twilight images taken near dusk or dawn.
The authors point out that this number of streaks isn’t high enough to significantly affect the search for potential asteroid collisions. But as the number rises to 10,000 or 15,000, astronomers will start to miss some asteroids. Given current trends, that number will be reached within a year or so. There are ways to mitigate the effect of these streaks.
It is clear we will soon need to make some difficult choices about satellite Internet. While it could broaden human connection to even the poorest and most remote regions of the world, it could also destroy our ability to view the heavens and more deeply understand the universe we call home. If we do not set our priorities and guidelines soon, SpaceX, Amazon, and other mega-companies will make the decision for us.
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