Elon Musk’s Starlink satellites ‘blocking’ view of the universe
Lead author Cees Bassa said it was like comparing the “faintest stars visible to the naked eye and the brightness of the full Moon.”
“Since SpaceX is launching about 40 second-generation Starlink satellites every week, this problem is becoming increasingly worse,” he added.
Robert Massey, Deputy Executive Director of the Royal Astronomical Society in the UK, said: “it’s very clear that if you have something this bright that is compromising a major radio observatory this much, then we need to do something and we need to do it quickly.”
Asked about the value of the astronomy research, he said: “it’s wrong to say that there is some science that you can simply dismiss. The applications may be decades or even longer in the future but they can be very fundamental and very important.”
Scientists are also worried about light pollution from the satellites, and fear it is also interfering with optical telescopes.
Astronomers say they talked to SpaceX about radiation from the first generation of satellites and the company listened to their concerns.
But ASTRON now say the V2 have been found to be even more powerful.
“Turning LOFAR back up and seeing these booming signals from these new generation of V2 Mini SpaceX satellites was a bit shocking,” says Prof Dempsey.
“This is actually threatening the entirety of ground based astronomy in every wavelength and in different ways. If it continues, without the sort of mitigation to make these satellites quiet, then it does become an existential threat for the kinds of astronomy we do,” Prof Dempsey added.
The researchers stress that more regulation of space and how satellites operate is needed to avoid scientific work being compromised.
They said that as the largest provider of satellites, SpaceX could set a standard for limiting pollution.
Prof Dempsey said that simple actions like shielding the battery on the satellite could make a big difference and reduce the radiation emitted.
Some interference comes from faulty electronics, so this could prevent that happening.
But without action, “very soon the only constellations we will see will be human-made,” she added.
The findings are published in the scientific journal Astronomy and Astrophysics.
