Lasers in daylight can better detect space debris orbiting Earth, new study suggests - CNN

But the Austrian team said they've pioneered a way to "visualize space debris target(s) in daylight," which could dramatically expand the potential observation time for researchers around the world to visualize and precisely map the trajectories of each piece of space debris.

"One of our conclusions is that it is important that more stations worldwide connect to help create better predictions," said Michael Steindorfer, a postdoctoral researcher at the Space Research Institute in Austria.

That data could help create a brighter space future for all of us.

A new way to detect space debris

While using laser ranging to detect bodies in orbit is common for satellites, it's a trickier prospect for tracking debris, in part because a discarded object in space, such as an old rocket body, tends to not be equipped with reflectors that help bounce light back to research stations on Earth.

"The target needs to be lit by sunlight and cannot be in Earth's shadow," Steindorfer said.

With so much interference from bright sunlight, it's incredibly difficult for space debris tracking stations to visually see the object and to pick up light reflecting from an otherwise dark celestial object.

The longest observation time the Austrian team recorded for one of those rocket bodies was just 100 seconds.

By detecting the photons that bounce back from the specific piece of debris, it's also possible to determine the object's rotational behavior and rotational period, Steindorfer said.

At the researchers' observation station in Graz, Austria, they'd previously been limited to observing space debris for a maximum of six hours each day, during the twilight hours.

With this new technique, they're now able to track space junk for up to 22 hours daily.

Any debris tracking station around the world can repeat their method, the scientists said.

"The results are a starting point for all space debris laser ranging stations to drastically increase their output in the near future," the researchers argued.

Space junk has built up over decades

In more than half a century of human space exploration, a lot of rubbish has accumulated in orbit.

In that time, space agencies have tracked at least 20,000 pieces of debris larger than a softball orbiting our planet, whizzing by at velocities up to 17,500 miles per hour, speeds that could rip through a satellite or a manned spacecraft, NASA has said.

Factoring in objects at least as big as a marble, there are more than 500,000 piece of debris in orbit, and further millions of other debris pieces so small they defy our tracking methods.