Scientists have found out that SpaceX’s Starlink satellites spoil 18% of the images taken by astronomers
Photo: Nacho Doce / Reuters
Scientists said that SpaceX’s Starlink satellites, which have filled a low Earth orbit, interfere with the study of dangerous objects such as asteroids and comets. The study was published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters.
As part of the study, scientists studied about 300 thousand images taken by astronomers at the Palomar Observatory in California. It turned out that from November 2019 to September 2021 there was a 35-fold increase in the number of damaged images. As experts explain, the satellites of the global Internet entrepreneur Elon Musk reflect sunlight, which is why they leave streaks in the photos.
The researchers noticed that the satellites had the greatest impact on shooting at dusk: the proportion of images with stripes taken at this time increased from less than 0.5 percent to 18 percent.
At the same time, scientists noted that the company tried to solve this problem. In particular, the installation of special sun visors made it possible to reduce the brightness of the reflected light by 4.6 times.
In August 2021, British scientists announced that the Starlink system devices are dangerous for other satellites in Earth orbit. According to experts, only because of the Starlink satellites, about 1,600 dangerous approaches to other objects occur weekly.
