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Just read this fascinating post regarding constellations of Starlink (and other) satellies covering the night sky, potentially ruining Earth-based stronomy.
gemini://gemini.autonomy.earth/posts/archive/articles-date/articles-date-2023/articles-date-2023-10/ab58481a1e0688a26229734e75d315ea-SpaceX_s_Starlink_satellites_are_about_to_ruin_stargazing_for_everyone.gmi
Why can't they make them invisible? Paint them in Vanta Black?
3 months ago · 👍 o9earth
Maybe this is off topic by now, but have any of you done any astronomy lately? Seen anything cool up there? · 3 months ago
as off grid human, i depend on sats to keep me connected to the internet (u r never fully off grid anyway, as a social being) but then i also like watching the night sky, one of the big benefits when dwelling a bit away from everyone else and the grid. they must have improved the sats, as i don’t see them much anymore despite increased coverage in my area, allegedly.
also: this is old news, ain’t it? · 3 months ago
Indeed, but whatever they used isn't working as this is still very much a problem. In fact, up-to-date articles regarding this mention that - despite their new coating - the satellites still remain more reflective than anticipated.
So, as far I'm I'm aware, this is still a valid concern? Any astrophotography types want to chime in? · 3 months ago
Wait wait wait...this is literally "Welcome to Last Week". You're responding to a Gemini post from last October, which is responding to an article in The Conversation from 2020. Every single link in the Gemini article in fact is from 2020. And in the Gemini post, they even mentioned that SpaceX was "starting" (in 2020) to use a better non-reflective coating on their satellites.
I'm no Musk defender, but, uh...at least get pissed off about things that are still happening this year. · 3 months ago
I guess the difference from the Iridium controversy is that Starlink is going to form a grid of 30K satellites, and at much lower orbits, so potentially a sky filled with little dots moving around. It's going to ruin astrophotography for some folks for sure.
Bezos is also getting in on the action, so even worse. Be good if they came up with a solution.
[POLL Who represents the greater evil? | Elon Musk | Jeff Bezos | Mark Zuckerberg · 3 months ago
Yeah, we've been here before too with the Iridium flares. https://earthsky.org/space/i-saw-a-flash-in-the-night-sky-what-is-it/ they are all replaced with less shiny orbital housings. So at least we've learned not to cover them with mirrors on purpose. · 3 months ago
https://earthsky.org/space/i-saw-a-flash-in-the-night-sky-what-is-it/