English
Related papers

Related papers: Concerns about ground based astronomical observati…

200 papers

I discuss the current low Earth orbit artificial satellite population and show that the proposed `megaconstellation' of circa 12,000 Starlink internet satellites would dominate the lower part of Earth orbit, below 600 km, with a…

Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics · Physics 2020-04-15 Jonathan C. McDowell

This article is a second analysis step from the descriptive arXiv:2001.10952 preprint. This work is aimed to arise awareness to the scientific astronomical community about the negative impact of satellites' mega-constellations and put in…

Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics · Physics 2020-03-26 Stefano Gallozzi , Diego Paris , Marco Scardia , David Dubois

The impact of large-scale constellations of satellites, is a concern for ground-based astronomers. In recent years there has been a significant increase in the number of satellites in Low-Earth Orbit and this trend is set to continue. The…

Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics · Physics 2021-11-23 James Osborn , Laurence Blacketer , Matthew J. Townson , Ollie J. D. Farley

The effect of satellite constellations on observations in the visible and IR domains is estimated, considering 18 constellations in development by SpaceX, Amazon, OneWeb, and others, with over 26,000 satellites, constituting a…

Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics · Physics 2021-08-06 Olivier R. Hainaut , Adrew P. Williams

Radio telescopes observe extremely faint emission from astronomical objects, ranging from compact sources to large scale structures that can be seen across the whole sky. Satellites actively transmit at radio frequencies (particularly at…

Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics · Physics 2025-04-17 M. Peel , S. Eggl , M. L. Rawls , H. Qiu , D. L. Clements

The population of artificial satellites and space debris orbiting the Earth imposes non-negligible constraints on both space operations and ground-based optical and radio astronomy. The ongoing deployment of several satellite…

Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics · Physics 2021-04-02 Miroslav Kocifaj , Frantisek Kundracik , John C. Barentine , Salvador Bará

In the coming decade, up to 100 000 satellites in large constellations could be launched into low Earth orbit. The satellites will introduce a variety of negative impacts on astronomy observatories and science, which vary from negligible to…

Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics · Physics 2021-08-10 Andrew Williams , Olivier Hainaut , Angel Otarola , Gie Han Tan , Giuliana Rotola

The number of satellites on low orbit has dramatically increased over the past years, raising concerns among the astronomical community about their impact on observations. Spectroscopic observations represent a large fraction of…

Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics · Physics 2024-01-19 Olivier R. Hainaut Sabine Moehler

The rising population of artificial satellites and associated debris in low-altitude orbits is increasing the overall brightness of the night sky, threatening ground-based astronomy as well as a diversity of stakeholders and ecosystems…

Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics · Physics 2023-02-03 John C. Barentine , Aparna Venkatesan , Jessica Heim , James Lowenthal , Miroslav Kocifaj , Salvador Bará

Thousands of active artificial objects are orbiting around Earth along with much more non-operational ones -- derelict satellites or rocket bodies, collision debris, or spacecraft payloads, significant part of them being uncatalogued. They…

Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics · Physics 2022-02-14 Sergey Karpov , Julien Peloton

Megaconstellations of thousands to tens of thousands of artificial satellites (satcons) are rapidly being developed and launched. These satcons will have negative consequences for observational astronomy research, and are poised to…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2022-01-05 S. M. Lawler , A. C. Boley , H. Rein

This study evaluates the effect of proposed constellations -- ranging from current deployments to mega-constellations and very bright reflector concepts -- on direct trail losses, diffuse background, and scattered sky brightness. We use a…

Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics · Physics 2026-04-13 Olivier R. Hainaut

The number of small satellites has grown dramatically in the past decade from tens of satellites per year in the mid-2010s to a projection of tens of thousands in orbit by the mid-2020s. This presents both problems and opportunities for…

Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics · Physics 2020-11-09 Stephen Serjeant , Martin Elvis , Giovanna Tinetti

SpaceX recently proposed to orbit 19,440 Starlink internet satellites at a low altitude of 350 km instead of the current 550 km. The distribution in the sky and the apparent magnitudes of these spacecraft are simulated in this paper. During…

Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics · Physics 2024-06-25 Anthony Mallama

Since the late 1950s, when the first artificial satellite was launched, the number of Resident Space Objects has steadily increased. It is estimated that around one million objects larger than one cm are currently orbiting the Earth, with…

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · Physics 2024-07-30 Francisco Caldas , Cláudia Soares

The rapid increase in satellite launches in recent years, and the pressure of launches planned into the next decade, demands an improvement in the efficiency of space domain awareness facilities. Optical facilities form an important…

Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics · Physics 2025-06-16 Sarah E. Caddy , Lee R. Spitler

Satellite constellation interference occurs across astronomical disciplines. We present examples of interference from radio and $\gamma$-Ray astronomy to optical and spectroscopic interference in ground-based and space-borne facilities. In…

Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics · Physics 2024-08-28 Siegfried Eggl , Zouhair Benkhaldoun , Genoveva Micheva , Samuel T. Spencer , David V. Stark , Benjamin Winkel , Meredith Rawls , Mike W. Peel

The high frequency of satellite launches, particularly over the last few years, has been a subject of significant concern, particularly relating to the future of observational astronomy, the stability of low Earth orbits, and environmental…

Popular Physics · Physics 2026-04-01 Michael B. Lund

In August 2025 a workshop was convened to bring together experts to better understand steps that can be taken to mitigate the impact of satellite constellations on astronomical observations. At the time, just over 12,000 operational…

‹ Prev 1 2 3 10 Next ›