365NEWSX
365NEWSX
Subscribe

Welcome

Starlink satellites mar a fifth of asteroid-spotting telescope's critical observations - TechRadar

Starlink satellites mar a fifth of asteroid-spotting telescope's critical observations - TechRadar

Starlink satellites mar a fifth of asteroid-spotting telescope's critical observations - TechRadar
Jan 19, 2022 2 mins, 1 sec

SpaceX's Starlink satellite constellation has been concerning the world's astronomers for years.

Since 2019, SpaceX has been launching batches of satellites into low-Earth orbit (LEO) to build a constellation network that will provide internet access from any point on the globe.

There are close to 1,800 satellites in orbit already, with plans for tens of thousands to eventually be deployed.

When a Starlink satellite passes through the view of these observatories, however, it doesn't look like it's moving.

This is especially true of images taken during twilight hours at dawn and dusk, which are essential for identifying objects that might be between the Earth and the Sun, like near-Earth asteroids.

"In 2019, 0.5 percent of twilight images were affected, and now almost 20 percent are affected," Przemek Mróz, the study lead author and a former Caltech postdoctoral scholar, now at the University of Warsaw in Poland, said in a statement.

"We don't expect Starlink satellites to affect non-twilight images, but if the satellite constellation of other companies goes into higher orbits, this could cause problems for non-twilight observations," Mróz added.

The reason twilight observations are so important is that most of the objects in the solar system orbit the Sun on a level plane.

And now, about 20% of these images are compromised by SpaceX's Starlink satellites streaking across them?

Rubin Observatory, under construction in Chile, is far more sensitive than ZTF and will be far more susceptible to satellite streaks during its observations.

If one out of every five images might be compromised, can't we just take more images to compensate.

Yes, and we'll have to do that, but one in five images is being compromised by Starlink satellites when there are only about 1,800 satellites in LEO.

SpaceX already has approval to put 12,000 Starlink satellites in orbit and has plans to deploy an additional 18,000 satellites on top of that.

What happens when there are 100,000 satellites in LEO, all streaking across the sky during twilight and marring these vital observations.

With that many satellites in LEO, every single observation taken at twilight is going to be affected.

It is also possible to coordinate observations with satellite operators so that observations aren't taken when satellites are passing overhead.

Even if SpaceX took every satellite out of orbit and scrapped its Starlink plans, there's nothing to stop a Russian or Chinese company from doing something similar.

SpaceX alone puts a hundred or so satellites into orbit every month

Summarized by 365NEWSX ROBOTS

RECENT NEWS

SUBSCRIBE

Get monthly updates and free resources.

CONNECT WITH US

© Copyright 2024 365NEWSX - All RIGHTS RESERVED