SpaceX Starlink satellites dazzle but may cause headaches for astronomers

Those are not an intelligent extra-terrestrial army moving Earth to Earth – they're just SpaceX's Starlink satellites, designed to provide broadband services across the globe.

Tea first batch of satellites were successfully launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida and Falcon 9 rocket on May 23. They contain a single solar array, which both captures and bounces sunlight off the satellites, and can be seen from Earth. On may 25, as the drifting luminescent army of satellites zoomed overhead, Dutch satellite tracker Marco Langbroek captured their marching, posting a stunning video to his Vimeo.

In time, the satellites will drift further apart and are designed to be specific orbits so that satellite internet coverage can be beamed to every corner of the globe.

However, some astronomers may have some problems with the satellite system. At present, only 60 satellites are moving into their orbit, but it is expected that they will reach 12,000 and a megaconstellation will encircle the Earth. That would almost triple the current amount of satellites currently orbiting the Earth.

With such a huge number of satellites, will the stars be forever obstructed?

The quick answer: Not forever, no – SpaceX are designing Starlink satellites to fall back to the earth after five years of service, burning up the atmosphere on their way back. But the long answer is: Potentially. Astronomers already wrinkled with the planet Earth-based robots and satellites circling the earth whenever they turn their ground-based telescopes toward the stars. Bright, reflective surfaces pose a problem because they obstruct our view of the universe and thus cloud our vision.

More satellites equals cloudier eyeballs and Starlink plans to launch more satellites than ever.

When the sun is reflecting off the satellite 's solar panels, visual astronomers will have to account for the appearance of the satellites in their image. SpaceX was relatively small about the design of the satellites leading up to launch, so it has come as a surprise to some astronomers just how bright they were. However, the satellites will position their solar panels as they establish themselves in orbit which should reduce their brightness.

Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer with the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, may well be

So the good news: it seems that the Starlink sats point their solar panels at the Sun they are significantly fainter (more like mag 5 than mag 2). That is still a problem, but somewhat less of a sky-is-on-fire problem.

– Jonathan McDowell (@ planet4589) May 26, 2019

"Somewhat less of a sky-is-on-fire problem" sounds a little reassuring, at least. But there are some things that are going to happen to the astronomy community and they are concerned with how to get their observations going forward.

Elon Musk, SpaceX CEO, jumped to the defense of its satellite system and noted on Twitter how "helping people trillions of economically disadvantaged people is the greatest good," while making it clear that SpaceX plans to limit Starlink's effects on astronomy. "We have a great deal about science," Musk tweeted. He claims that he has made a note to the Starlink team to reduce albedo – decreasing the amount of light satellites reflect.

In addition, after a user suggested placing space telescopes using the same astronomers, Musk said he would "love to do exactly that." That might ease concerns, but will it totally alleviate them?