The study — which was posted on the online repository Arxiv on Jan. 12 but has not yet been peer-reviewed — analyzed nearly 2,000 observations of Amazon Leo satellites. It concluded that the spacecraft exceed the brightness limit recommended by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) that aims to ensure harmless coexistence of satellite megaconstellation with astronomical research.
The internet-beaming satellites, orbiting at an altitude of 391 miles (630 kilometers), have an average apparent magnitude of 6.28, which is too dim to be visible to the naked eye, but still bright enough to bother astronomers. In about 25% of observations, the satellites appeared bright enough to be observable without telescopes.
https://www.space.com/space-exploration/satellites/amazons-internet-beaming-satellites-are-bright-enough-to-disrupt-astronomical-research-study-finds
9 Comments
Astronomical research will be sacrificed in order to make stonk prices increase astronomically
And here we go… again and again… still not a word about the chinese ones.
Same complaint about Starlink. The world is changing, deal with it.
More Lagrange point telescopes, maybe?
Capitalist USAnians at it, again.
You love destroying all the good things the world can get, right?
How are they “bright”? They don’t emit light.
This is madness, and a security risk. Space access ahould require approval of the majority of nations.
This will only end up with Kessler syndrome or a war that will have the same result. Hopefully, the next generation will consider space no one’s playground.
We need a global space agency.
As an amateur astrophotographer, I am here to confirm that the number of objects up there interfering with my exposures has gotten pretty damned crazy of late.
Acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations, contractions, and other phrases which expand to something larger, that I’ve seen in this thread:
|Fewer Letters|More Letters|
|——-|———|—|
|[ITU](/r/Space/comments/1qmqats/stub/o1pe0aw “Last usage”)|International Telecommunications Union, responsible for coordinating radio spectrum usage|
|[LEO](/r/Space/comments/1qmqats/stub/o1peeyp “Last usage”)|Low Earth Orbit (180-2000km)|
| |Law Enforcement Officer (most often mentioned during transport operations)|
|Jargon|Definition|
|——-|———|—|
|[Starlink](/r/Space/comments/1qmqats/stub/o1pacep “Last usage”)|SpaceX’s world-wide satellite broadband constellation|
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