"Existential threat" to optical astronomy: warning about satellite plans
A new report warns that plans for tens of thousands of low-Earth orbit satellites could pose an "existential threat" to optical astronomy, as satellite trails and reflected light increasingly interfere with scientific observations, potentially hampering research into dark energy, exoplanets, and other cosmic phenomena.
Background
- The article warns that recent and planned satellite megaconstellations — large networks of thousands of communication satellites in low Earth orbit — are becoming an "existential threat" to ground-based optical astronomy (telescopes that observe visible light). Currently about 30,000 satellites are planned or already being launched, up from only a few thousand a few years ago.