According to Russia Today TELEVISION (RT) reported on the 19th, a recent study warned that the increase in the number of commercial satellites such as SpaceX in the United States is polluting low-Earth orbit and affecting astronomical photos, which may make the earth more vulnerable to deadly attacks by asteroids.
Screenshot of the report
The paper, published last week in the Astrophysical Journal Newsletter, said thousands of satellites in Projects such as SpaceX's StarChain are causing a flood of low-light astronomical photos to appear bright spots.
In 2019, less than 0.5% of such photos had these bright spots, but by August 2021, that number had increased to 18%, meaning that nearly one in five low-light astronomical photos were disturbed by bright spots.
SpaceX launches "Starlink" satellite Source: Visual China
The researchers claim that the satellite's trajectory influenced certain observational activities to track near-Earth asteroids and comets. Worryingly, the dramatic increase in satellite trajectories could soon lead researchers to miss certain asteroids and comets.
The study's authors say the current satellite trajectories are not yet sufficient to have a significant impact on the discoveries of asteroids and comets, but things are changing rapidly.
Elon Musk Image Source: Visual China
On Sunday, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk proudly stated that there are currently 1469 Starlink satellites active in low orbit. Thousands of satellites launched by many countries around the world are also orbiting the Earth, a report in September that totaled nearly 8,000.
(Editor: ZLQ)