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the International Astronomical Union (IAU) worried about the risk that Starlink satellite from SpaceX and other large satellite constellations planned in low Earth orbit pose to astronomy.
The group, best known for its role in the "downgrading" of Pluto to the rank of a planet, represents more than 13,000 astronomers in the world. In its statement, released yesterday (June 3), the IAU pointed out that, even though several megaconstellations are under development, no one really knows what consequences such a huge number of low Earth orbits satellites could have on astronomy.
"The organization, in general, embraces the principle of a dark and silent sky as an essential element not only to improve our understanding of the Universe of which we are part, but also as a resource for all humanity and for the protection of the night "wildlife," reads in the statement. "We do not yet understand the impact of thousands of these people visible satellites scattered in the night sky and despite their good intentions, these satellite constellations can threaten both. "
Related: The first launch of SpaceX's mega-satellite Internet Starlink in photos!
IAU has been urged to publish its statement following the outcry by astronomers about the high visibility after launch the first 60 Starlink satellites, which SpaceX deployed on May 23 (SpaceX's Starlink satellites will become less visible as they move into permanent orbits.) SpaceX CEO Elon Musk dismissed these concerns May 27 on Twitter, but the outcry has continued.
The declaration is careful to note that this is not just Starlink from SpaceX this poses a threat to astronomy. The existing constellation of the company, Iridium, as well as the developing networks OneWeb and Globalstar are also mentioned in the statement, as well as the internet satellite project Kuiper recently announced by Amazon and Internet satellite Athena that Facebook was suspected of working on last summer.
the IAU's concern With each of these projects, the number of satellites required by each in a low Earth orbit is considerable. According to the statement, so far, there have been fewer than 200 such satellites, but IAU fears that this number will exceed five digits. And taken together, all these satellites could threaten two essential types of astronomy.
First optical astronomy. Each satellite reflects light and, although most of these reflections are too weak for casual observers, astronomers rely much more on sensitive optical telescopes. According to the IAU, hypersensitive optical telescopes and those designed to rapidly monitor the entire sky are particularly vulnerable to mega-constellations.
And these satellites also threaten radioastronomy, writes the organization. Constellations will communicate with the Earth by radio signals and astronomers working in radio wavelengths already fight to ignore all human chatter which is based on this type of communication. The IAU has specifically referred to the imagery of a black hole presented by Event Horizon Telescope as being the kind of project likely to be affected by megaconstellations.
"While significant efforts have been made to mitigate the problems posed by the different satellite constellations, we urge all players in this new, largely unregulated, space-using frontier to work in collaboration for their mutual benefit ", reads in the release of the IAU. "Satellite constellations can pose a significant or debilitating threat to important existing and future astronomical infrastructures, and we urge their designers and deployers, as well as policy makers, to collaborate with the astronomer community in a concerted effort of Analysis and understanding of the impact of satellite constellations. "
Email Meghan Bartels at [email protected] or follow her. @meghanbartels. follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.
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