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'Space graffiti': astronomers angry over launch of fake star into sky

theguardian.com

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Re: 'Space graffiti': astronomers angry over launch of fake star into sky

#11

Post by SideburnsOfDoom »

nkrisc wrote: post #2

Do you want regulations? This is how you get regulations. Once low Earth orbit is easily accessible to anyone, what can be done? There are all kinds of intentional and unintentional misuses of such a capability.

> Do you want regulations? This is how you get regulations.

A finite resource, great cost necessary to access it, danger of catastrophic failure when things collide. Long-lasting consequences of such failure.

I'd expect regulation in this scenario. It seems inevitable and necessary.

Re: 'Space graffiti': astronomers angry over launch of fake star into sky

#12

Post by upofadown »

Oh come now. There are a lots of orbiting objects that cause bright flashes. The flashes this particular object causes are not even that bright. I suspect that anyone who pointed this out were not quoted... Particularly the astronomers who thought the whole thing was awesome... Astronomers are bothered by any sunlight illuminated satellite. This will make no difference at all to their lives.

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satellite_flare

Re: 'Space graffiti': astronomers angry over launch of fake star into sky

#13

Post by 2474 »

gooseus wrote: post #8
nkrisc wrote: post #2

Do you want regulations? This is how you get regulations. Once low Earth orbit is easily accessible to anyone, what can be done? There are all kinds of intentional and unintentional misuses of such a capability.

Do we not have a global regulating body for what people can put in LEO? Cause I'm gonna have to say yes on this one. A 9-month occasional bright light in the sky is a brief annoyance for astronomers, but avoiding the Kessler Syndrome should be a global imperative. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kessler_syndrome

Haven't you seen The Astronaut Farmer? Billy Bob had a hell of a time getting permission to launch himself into space. Had to finally just do it.

Re: 'Space graffiti': astronomers angry over launch of fake star into sky

#16

Post by jvandonsel »

upofadown wrote: post #12

Oh come now. There are a lots of orbiting objects that cause bright flashes. The flashes this particular object causes are not even that bright. I suspect that anyone who pointed this out were not quoted... Particularly the astronomers who thought the whole thing was awesome... Astronomers are bothered by any sunlight illuminated satellite. This will make no difference at all to their lives. * https://en.wikipedia.or…

Sure, but the point of those satellites is not to make a flash in the sky. The whole point of the disco ball is to dazzle.

Re: 'Space graffiti': astronomers angry over launch of fake star into sky

#17

Post by JoeAltmaier »

Hm. "The heavens" is a protected area, like a wilderness or polar bear? What hubris - tiny humans feeling possessive about the entirety of the universe. Something very off here. And these are exactly the people who should appreciate our insignificance in the cosmos.

Maybe they just expressed themselves badly. Its our 'sphere of observation' or some such, that they feel is being badly treated?

Re: 'Space graffiti': astronomers angry over launch of fake star into sky

#18

Post by titzer »

JoeAltmaier wrote: post #17

Hm. "The heavens" is a protected area, like a wilderness or polar bear? What hubris - tiny humans feeling possessive about the entirety of the universe. Something very off here. And these are exactly the people who should appreciate our insignificance in the cosmos. Maybe they just expressed themselves badly. Its our 'sphere of observation' or some such, that they feel is being badly treated?

I'd argue the hubris is going the other way: launching shiny stuff into space that everyone has to look at. It's launching trash into space, IMHO, and I reacted quite negatively at first as well.

Re: 'Space graffiti': astronomers angry over launch of fake star into sky

#19

Post by wavefunction »

strictnein wrote: post #4

> director of astrobiology at Columbia University Caleb Scharf wrote in Scientific American, the star represented "another invasion of my personal universe" There's hyperbole, and then there's comments like that. His "personal universe"?

I don't read that as any sort of claim of ownership, merely that this ridiculous fake-star stunt has impacted his life, which is probably mostly removed from such inanities as it involves astronomy.
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