Starlink is increasingly interfering with astronomy, scientists say

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• TommySoda@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  As someone that uses Starlink due to nothing else being in my area, I hate everything about this. Sure the convenience of having internet wherever I want is nice, but this still sucks. Especially since I’m a huge space nerd so this shit just hurts my soul.

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  • AlexWIWA@lemmy.ml ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    In your defense, there should be internet in your area but the government dropped the ball and let Comcast scam them.

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    • TommySoda@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      My favorite part is that bout 5 miles down the highway they have fibre optic. They’ve been “installing” it for about 4 or 5 years now. They’ve had the spool just sitting outside for half that time.

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• PennyRoyal@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  It’s not the only problem with them, and potentially not the biggest either - there is no plan to remove or maintain them when they die other than de-orbiting them into the upper atmosphere. A recent study suggests that this will critically harm the ozone layer, and that adding metallic particles in the quantities implied by the number of starlink satellites that Elmo plans to launch could do far more damage to the ozone layer than our previous attempts to screw it up!

  Article - sciencealert.com/satellites-like-starlink-could-p…

  Study - agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/…/2024GL109280

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  • threelonmusketeers@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

    Yeah, aluminium oxide particles may be a problem. Some scientists are experimenting with replacing aluminium with wood. I wonder if this would be feasible on future Starlink sats.

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• sirico@feddit.uk ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  I can track them with a 16" Dob they’re that common

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• jeena@piefed.jeena.net ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  So after some time they all will come down und burn up, what time frame are we talking about?

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  • Successful_Try543@feddit.org ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    The number of satellites in orbit around Earth is rapidly increasing, with some 100,000 expected to be in place by 2030. And as their numbers grow, so does the difficulty of observing the universe from Earth.

    So basically, our billion dollar radio telescopes are blind on certain frequencies during the rest of this decade.

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    • notfromhere@lemmy.ml ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      As technology advances, our ability to observe the universe from space far surpasses ground-based telescopes. While I appreciate amateur astronomy, let’s acknowledge that satellites like those in low Earth orbit can occasionally interfere with surface observations. Instead of criticizing their presence, perhaps we could focus on working together to minimize disruptions and support continued space exploration – after all, observatories like JWST are pushing the boundaries of our understanding.

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