ELON Musk’s swarm of Starlink satellites are obstructing astronomers’ telescope views, according to a new study.
Since 2019, Elon Musk has sent an increasing amount of Starlink satellites into orbit around the world via his company SpaceX.
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At present, the number of Starlink satellites orbiting Earth at altitudes of about 550 km is approaching 1,800.
However, now astronomers are expressing concern that the SpaceX instruments could hinder their scientific observations, specifically those aimed at detecting near-Earth asteroids.
Starlink satellites have appeared as streaks in scientific telescope images so frequently that it prompted a study on it, which was recently published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
In particular, the study dissects the impact of SpaceX Starlink Satellites on the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF), which operates from Caltech’s Palomar Observatory near San Diego.
“There is a growing concern about an impact of low-Earth-orbit (LEO) satellite constellations on ground-based astronomical observations, in particular, on wide-field surveys in the optical and infrared,” the study stated.
University of Warsaw astronomer and the study’s lead author, Przemek Mróz, also noted that between 2019 November and 2021 September, 5,301 satellite streaks in astronomical images could be attributed to only Starlink satellites.
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“In 2019, 0.5 percent of twilight images were affected, and now almost 20 percent are affected,” Dr. Przemek Mróz said in a statement.
“We don’t expect Starlink satellites to affect non-twilight images, but if the satellite constellation of other companies goes into higher orbits, this could cause problems for non-twilight observations,” he added.
In the future, astronomers predict that nearly all of the ZTF images taken during twilight will contain at least one streak, as SpaceX plans to launch have 10,000 Starlink satellites in orbit by 2027.
Currently, the mega-constellation of Starlink satellites brings internet service to 24 of almost 200 countries around the world.
And in response to the situation, SpaceX began equipping the satellites with visors in 2020, which reduced their brightness by 4.6 times, however, that is still too bright for astronomers’ liking.
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