Astronomers Map out the Radio Waves Coming From Large Satellite Constellations - by briankoberlein
Satellite internet constellations such as Starlink have the potential to make connect nearly the entire world. Starlink already provides internet access to remote areas long excluded by the internet revolution, and other projects such as OneWeb and Project Kuiper are in the works. But there are side effects to creating a massive array of low-orbit satellites, and one of them is the potentially serious effect on astronomy.
Much of the attention on Starlink and astronomy has been focused on astrophotography, and how once fairly clear skies are often filled with bright trails from Starlink satellites. For hobbyists and even some professional astronomy, this can be mitigated through software tricks. But some research areas such as the search for potentially hazardous asteroids are.
Starlink satellites communicate both with each other and with ground antennas via high-frequency radio. Whereas optical astronomy is affected by reflected light from satellites, radio astronomy is affected by transmitted light. The Starlink satellites are essentially radio flashlights that can blind sensitive radio telescopes. They have to be in order to work as communication satellites.
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