A string of lights, as if it were a pearl necklace, has been ‘projected’ in the sky in recent days. Visible from Spain, the train of lights was actually a series of relatively low-flying satellites launched by Elon Musk’s SpaceX as part of its Starlink internet service.
An email to a SpaceX spokesperson was not returned Saturday, but astronomy experts said the number of lights in rapid succession and their distance from Earth made them easily identifiable as Starlink satellites to those used to seeing them.
“The way you can tell that they are Starlink satellites is that they are like a string of pearls, these lights travel in the same basic orbit, one after the other,” according to Dr. Richard Fienberg, press officer for the American Astronomical Society. .
Fienberg said that satellites that are launched in large groups called constellations come together when they orbit, especially right after launch. The strings get smaller as time goes on.
This month, SpaceX has already launched dozens of satellites. It’s all part of a plan to bridge the digital divide and bring internet access to underserved areas of the world, with SpaceX tentatively scheduled to launch another 120 satellites later in the month. Overall, the company has put about 1,500 satellites into orbit and requested permission to launch thousands more.
Until a few years ago, there were only a few hundred satellites orbiting Earth, mostly visible as individual lights moving across the sky. Now, Fienberg’s group, as well as others representing professional and amateur astronomers, are not very favorable to the proliferation of satellites that can obscure the scientific data and spoil a clear night of observing the universe. The International Astronomical Union issued a statement in July 2019 noting its concern over multiple satellite launches.
“The organization, in general, embraces the principle of a dark sky and quiet radio not only as essential to advance our understanding of the universe of which we are a part, but also as a resource for all humanity and for the protection of wildlife. “wrote the representatives. They noted that light reflection can interfere with astronomical research, but radio waves can also cause problems for specialized research teams, such as those that captured the first images of a black hole.
Source: phys.org
