The BlueWalker 3 is a shiny communications satellite the size of a highway billboard. More than a hundred even larger ones are planned
Scientists with the International Astronomical Union are warning that a recently launched commercial satellite has become one of the brightest objects in the night sky, posing a problem for astronomers and casual stargazes alike. And they say the object is likely to be the first of many.launched its BlueWalker 3 communications satellite on Sept. 22 last year to an altitude of about 500 kms.
The number of BlueBirds is dwarfed by SpaceX’s Starlink satellites, which number in the thousands. But those are significantly smaller, and newer models have been designed to reduce the glare they produce while in orbit.“The high optical brightness of the BlueWalker 3 satellite,” And while AST SpaceMobile has said it will look into ways of reducing the brightness of future satellites, the Nature article notes that “the trend towards the launch of increasingly larger and brighter satellites continues to grow.”
Michael J.I. Brown, an associate professor in astronomy at Monash University in Melbourne, sounded a more whimsical note in an article for the website. “The night sky is a shared wilderness,” he wrote. “On a dark night, away from the city lights, you can see the stars in the same way as your ancestors did centuries ago. You can see the Milky Way and the constellations associated with stories of mythical hunters, sisters and journeys. But like any wilderness, the night sky can be polluted.
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The BlueWalker 3 satellite is officially one of the brightest objects in the skyMonisha Ravisetti is Space.com's Astronomy Editor. She covers black holes, star explosions, gravitational waves, exoplanet discoveries and other enigmas hidden across the fabric of space and time. Previously, she was a science writer at CNET, and before that, reported for The Academic Times. Prior to becoming a writer, she was an immunology researcher at Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York. She graduated from New York University in 2018 with a B.A. in philosophy, physics and chemistry. She spends too much time playing online chess. Her favorite planet is Earth.
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