Broadband satellites launched by SpaceX and other companies will inevitably have a negative impact on astronomers’ ability to observe the night sky, according to a new report by astronomers. There is no remedial strategy that can completely eliminate the influence of satellites on astronomical observations – except to launch satellites – but the report includes recommendations on how satellite operators can reduce disruption and how observations can adjust to changes.
The report, released this week, is entitled “Recommendations for the Impact and Prevention of Satellite Constellations on ical Pical Astronomy.” The report is the result of a recent Satellite Star 1 (SATCON1) workshop, jointly organized by the National Science Foundation’s NOIRLab and the American Astronomical Society (AAS). Engineers from SpaceX participated in the workshop online, but the report was written by members of the SATCOON1 Scientific Organizing Committee and presented their unanimous views. The members of the committee are members of Aniorlab, AAS, Lowell and Steward Observatories in Arizona, Rubin Observatory in Chile, University of Michigan, UC-Davis, Smith College and Universities for Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA).
The report states:
Change is required on both ends: constellation managers and observations. SpaceX has shown that tors parameters can reduce sunlight reflected by satellite body de orientation, sun shielding and surface darkness. A concerted effort to obtain high-precision public data at the predictive locations of individual satellites (or ephemeralides) can avoid some pointing during satellite passage and enable mid-exposure shuttering. As the number of constellations increases, observers will need to adopt more dynamic schedules and observation management, although these measures will be ineffective for many science applications.
SpaceX has launched more than 600 satellites so far and OneWeb has launched 74. Both companies eventually plan to launch thousands of satellites into low-Earth orbit and will quickly provide broadband to areas with a lack of wired service. Amazon is also planning to launch thousands of satellites. Due to their low-Earth orbit (LEO), satellites will provide less delays than conventional satellite networks.
Kasturi predicted no effect
Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, said in March that he was confident that the discovery of astronomy would not affect us in any way. “The satellites appear immediately after launch, because” they’re a little tangled “and essentially” blink “or” reflect in a way that is not the case when they are in orbit, “he said. If their orbits increase, they shouldn’t even cause trouble for astronomers, Musk claimed.
But it’s been a year since SpaceX unveiled broadband satellites, and astronomers have now “gathered enough observations of the star satellites launched by SpaceX and OneWeb and run computer simulations of its potential impact, to understand the magnitude and complexity of the problem.” , “Stated in the report of SATCON1.
“If the 100,000 or more LEOsets proposed by many companies and many governments are deployed, a combination of reductions will not completely avoid the impact of satellite measures on current and planned ground-based optical-NIR science programs. [near-infrared] Astronomy facilities, “stated in the report.” Astronomers are there to understand the full range of influences on discipline. Astrophotography, amateur astronomy, and the human experience of stars and galaxies are already influential. “
The report’s authors stated that they had “simulated a representative LEOSAT constellation” to reach their conclusion. The report states that the recommendations for minimizing the damage to astronomy are “based on work and collaboration by astronomers and SpaceX,” but that this is “intended for a wider audience and especially for the satellite constellation industry.”
