In California’s Pinnacles National Park on the Life at Night Atlas project for the National Geographic, I was looking for big-eared bats which you can hear their clicking sound in the video. Then a “train” of satellites photobombed the clip. The recently launched set were on their way to the final orbit of about 550 km; a part of Starlink satellite constellation for internet/mobile services. SpaceX has already launched 4000 starlinks, with about 12,000 total satellites planned, and a possible extension to 42,000. The sky above us is becoming very busy.
On one side is our need for internet globally. More than 3 billion people still don’t have internet access. About 50% of those with access, live in countries with heavy censorship and shutdowns during social unrest (tops by China, Iran, Myanmar, Cuba, Vietnam, Russia). On the other side is the environmental impact of mega constellations, and Starlink will not be the only one. Frequent rocket launches increase black carbon chemicals in the atmosphere which adds to climate change. The night sky filled with sunlight-reflecting satellites largely impact astronomy research and our natural experience of the universe.
In 2020 SpaceX contacted me to consult on the impact of their satellites on astrophotography and stargazing. They were in the process of adding shields to new satellites and change the orientations to reduce visible reflection from the solar panels. It’s great that a large unstoppable company cares about the impact but there is not much they can do to make these satellites invisible. Once deployed from the Falcon 9 rocket the new Starlinks unfurl solar panels to a span of about 100 feet (30 meters). During orbit-gain period of several weeks they are visible to naked eyes. Once in the final orbit they are usually too faint for the naked eyes but they are easily revealed in astrophotos, even with wide-angle lenses. In deep sky telescopic and observatory images, they appear as many bright streaks that ruin the work, unless carefully timed with thousands of satellites coordination. Time-taking processing methods can remove them too.
9 views
100
27
4 hours ago 01:59:26 1
Queens of the Stone Age FULL SHOW Live at the Santa Barbara Bowl 2024 plus concert review
2 days ago 01:39:43 1
Watch again: SpaceX launches batch of Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station
2 days ago 00:08:55 1
SpaceX launches Starlink batch, nails landing - 3rd Falcon 9 mission in 2 days!
3 days ago 00:02:58 1
SpaceX Starlink 169 launch and Falcon 9 first stage landing, 28 May 2024
3 days ago 00:00:00 26
SpaceX Performs Second Wet Dress Rehearsal of Fourth Starship Flight Stack
4 days ago 00:09:04 1
SpaceX launches 23 Starlink satellites to complete doubleheader, nails landing
6 days ago 00:02:17 1
La Russie coupe les satellites Starlink de Musk qui soutiennent l’Ukraine.
1 week ago 00:28:09 1
How does Starlink Satellite Internet Work?📡☄🖥
1 week ago 00:02:21 1
SpaceX Starlink 168 launch and Falcon 9 first stage landing, 24 May 2024
2 weeks ago 00:10:36 1
How Does The Starlink System Work?
2 weeks ago 00:00:32 1
Starlink moon transit over Brisbane
2 weeks ago 00:03:03 1
Starlink satellites train through a telescope - SpaceX Elon Musk
3 weeks ago 00:24:18 1
Live: SpaceX launches another batch of Starlink satellites