Because astronomical telescopes are very sensitive to light, observatories often like to be built on mountains away from light pollution for the convenience of observation. However, as the number of satellites in low Earth orbit increases, astronomical observations will also have a huge impact.
According to foreign media reports, a study published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters by astronomers at the Palomar Observatory in the United States pointed out that with the increasing number of StarLink satellites, astronomical observations are being seriously affected.
The study analyzed observational data collected by the Zwicky Transient Probe (ZTF) at the Palomar Observatory between November 2019 and September 2021 and found 5,301 satellite stripes attributable to the starlink satellites in the observational imagery.
ZTF observation image
The researchers said that as musk SpaceX's starlink satellites continue to increase, so does the number of images observed by the Zwicky transient probe that are affected. Especially in images taken during the twilight period, the affected images have gone from 5% at the end of 2019 to 18% in August 2021.
Now Musk has launched about 1,800 satellites to provide Internet services to 24 countries around the world. By 2027, the number of Starlink satellites will increase to 10,000. At that time, every observation image of the Zwicky transient detector will have satellite stripes.
In addition, the researchers also pointed out that although in 2020, Musk lowered the brightness of the starlink satellite by five times to 6.8 magnitudes, it is still recommended to adjust the brightness to 7 magnitudes or darker to meet the needs of astronomical observations. Later effects on astronomical observations.
It is worth mentioning that in July 2020, when astronomers observed Comet Neowise, the image was also full of satellite stripes due to Musk's starlink satellite. According to NASA, this astronomical wonder will not be seen again for the next 6800 years.