This week, the National Science Foundation announced that it has reached an agreement with SpaceX to limit the impact of Starlink satellites on astronomy.
Astronomers have for a number of years raised concerns about the impact Starlink satellites could have on scientific studies, as part of a broader consideration of the cultural and ecological importance of dark and calm skies. The International Astronomical Union has even set up a special center to address the problem of satellite megaconstellations like Starlink in both optical and radio astronomy.
There are two main concerns about Starlink’s impact on astronomy. First, that satellites are reflective, that is, reflecting light from the sun, resulting in bright streaks in optical astronomical observations of the night sky. This is a particular problem for Starlink compared to other types of satellites because the Starlink satellites are in very low Earth orbit which means they are more prominent in the sky and there are thousands of them.
SpaceX has been working with astronomers to reduce this problem using methods such as painting the satellites a darker color to make them less reflective, adding sunshades, and changing their orientation so they reflect less sunlight.
The second problem concerns radio astronomy. Satellites are designed to operate at a specific radio frequency, but can emit radiation outside of that band in a phenomenon called frequency bleed. Radio astronomers already have to deal with a lot of background noise from Earth to pick out the faint signals from the distant objects they’re observing, and many satellites in the sky make that more difficult.
The agreement focuses on the 10.6 – 10.7 GHz radio astronomy band and SpaceX has agreed to take actions such as: B. No transmission from the satellites when they pass large radio astronomy stations.
The agreement is not legally binding but shows that both groups are trying to work together to enable both global satellite internet and astronomical observations. “We are laying the groundwork for a successful partnership between commercial and public endeavors that will enable important scientific research to thrive alongside satellite communications,” said NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan in a expression.
However, not all astronomy groups are so positive. When SpaceNews The International Dark-Sky Association is reportedly currently embroiled in a court case trying to block the deployment of more Starlink satellites on the grounds that they are harmful to both professional and amateur astronomy.
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