Starlink giant constellation _gw giant constellation

New research shows that a large number of satellite constellations may affect future space exploration.

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A new study commissioned by the European Southern Observatory shows that the introduction of 26,000 new giant satellite constellations may have a major impact on ground astronomy. In the next few years, as companies such as Space Exploration Technology Company, OneWeb and Amazon carry out their ambitious orbital plans, the number of satellites that can be observed by the naked eye will triple.

The progress of human technology seems to be inevitably inseparable from the increasing pollution of the natural environment. On the earth, industrialization has changed the global climate, bringing about potentially far-reaching and enormous consequences. With the advent of modern consumerism, the ocean has been polluted by plastic waste. With more and more people mastering the field of orbit, the space environment has also begun to be destroyed by human pollution. For example, in the next few years, it can be seen that nearly 26,000 satellites will be launched into low-earth orbit, while about 5,000 satellites are still in orbit.

Giant satellite constellation is a collection of a large number of satellites flying in formation in near-earth orbit. Space exploration technology company is already building its Starlink project, and elon musk hopes that one day it can provide low-cost Internet access for the whole world. The company is busy launching these satellites with Falcon 9 rocket. Space exploration technology company is not the only company that wants to use satellite constellations to provide Internet services. OneWeb also hopes to create an orbital network composed of hundreds of satellites like the global giant Amazon.

The spread of satellite technology and the appearance of giant satellite constellations not only produce physical contamination in the form of failed satellites, but also produce debris caused by orbital collision in the worst case. It may also seriously interfere with astronomical observation. These groups of detectors will mercilessly pass through the line of sight of powerful telescopes, which will capture the detailed observation results of cosmic objects, thus reducing the quality of data sets.

The scientists behind this latest study simulated the possible impact of giant satellite constellations on ESO visible and infrared observation telescopes, such as the very large telescope in the Atacama desert in Chile. This paper considers a series of factors and different methods of observing the sky with a telescope.

The results show that only 0.5% of the observation that depends on short-time exposure is affected by the elasticity of satellite light, and most of the time is at dusk. At this time after dusk or before dawn, astronomers are actively observing the night sky, but there is enough sunlight around the curve of the earth to illuminate a large number of metal detectors passing overhead. At dusk, telescopes that need a long exposure time will be affected by about 3% time.

Long-term exposure observation will be most affected by satellite constellations in a vast area that is used to keep staring at the night sky for short-term events such as new stars. For example, depending on the time of year, the National Science Foundation's Vera Rubin Observatory will be affected by satellites for 30% to 50% of the time.

The study also mentioned two main methods that astronomers can try to reduce the damage caused by satellite groups to their observations. The first method is to arrange a telescope to capture the sky when there is no satellite in a given area. Satellite path is predictable, so it is a feasible technology. However, it does not apply to all types of observation. For example, satellite pollution may be unavoidable when long-term exposure with large field of view is needed. The second method includes interrupting the protection of the telescope by accurately determining when the bright satellite passes through the field of view and closing the shutter before the contact time. This will be a challenging technology, and it is completely unsuitable for wide-field observation.

In industry, manufacturers can darken the surface color of satellites, thus reducing reflection. Space exploration technology company has tried this method on its Starlink satellite, although it must be widely promoted to be effective. The study also touched on the influence of giant satellite constellations on the public's view of the night sky. According to the researchers, there will be 1600 satellites above the horizon in mid-latitudes. This may lead to a threefold increase in the number of satellites visible to the naked eye in the night sky.

The purpose of this study is to simply evaluate the influence of satellite constellations on scientific observation, rather than comprehensively study the potential damage. In order to get a conservative estimate, researchers must make some educated guesses about the important elements. The author points out that their results "may be wrong on the pessimistic side", and further research using more complex models will help to reveal the nature of future interference and explore its influence on radio, millimeter wave and submillimeter wave wavelength observation.

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