SpaceX satellites could blight the night sky, warn astronomers • Hacker News Board

Re: SpaceX satellites could blight the night sky, warn astronomers

#51

Post by pfdietz » Wed, May 29, 2019, 12:15 PM UTC

batbomb wrote: post #29

pfdietz wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The importance society places on something can be judged by how much money it's willing to spend on it. The NSF budget for astronomy is $250M/year. Revenue projections for Starlink reach as high as $50B/year.

Astronomy isn't limited to the US and the NSF is not the only funding agency in the US. Sure, the annual cost isn't $50B/year, but that's a shitty metric to use, it is textbook tragedy of the commons.

It properly captures what populations, acting through their governments, think of the importance and value of astronomy.

It doesn't capture the value of individuals looking up and seeing stars. But I suspect the continued migration to highly illuminated cities shows that value isn't very high either.

Re: SpaceX satellites could blight the night sky, warn astronomers

#52

Post by Robotbeat » Wed, May 29, 2019, 3:05 PM UTC

jasonhansel wrote: post #35

Robotbeat wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's not accurate unless you think the current satellites (many of which are far brighter, such as ISS and Iridium flares) already "ruin" the night sky. I watched a recent pass of the Starlink satellites, and now that they're oriented near their operational directions, I could barely see them. I only noticed them because I knew right where to look. Unlike the flashing lights of passing aircraft which were a lot mor…

These SpaceX satellites were reported as UFOs, so they were clearly quite visible to people not looking for them.

They were much brighter and closer together right after deployment than in operation. Already, they've spread out and are now aligned in operational configuration so they're far less noticeable than at first. On par with typical satellites. I spotted them night before last, and it was difficult to see them.

ISS is also sometimes reported as a UFO. It's often brighter than Venus.

Re: SpaceX satellites could blight the night sky, warn astronomers

#53

Post by Robotbeat » Wed, May 29, 2019, 3:06 PM UTC

jjeaff wrote: post #27

Robotbeat wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's not accurate unless you think the current satellites (many of which are far brighter, such as ISS and Iridium flares) already "ruin" the night sky. I watched a recent pass of the Starlink satellites, and now that they're oriented near their operational directions, I could barely see them. I only noticed them because I knew right where to look. Unlike the flashing lights of passing aircraft which were a lot mor…

Iridium has about 85 satellites in service. SpaceX satellites are much closer and they are planning something around 7,500 of them. Might not be too hard to look in just the right place with that many floating around.

SpaceX will also be serving orders of magnitude more customers than Iridium. Being closer also means they'll pass in the Earth's shadow earlier in the night than Iridium.

Re: SpaceX satellites could blight the night sky, warn astronomers

#54

Post by Robotbeat » Wed, May 29, 2019, 3:08 PM UTC

jasonhansel wrote: post #32

Robotbeat wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The article is incorrect. Most of the satellites will be in very low orbits (340km) such that past astronautical twilight, you won't be able to see them except near the horizon (and even then only if you're near astronautical twilight) as they won't be sun lit. And even in astronautical twilight, you'll only be able to see about a dozen or so under good conditions. The higher orbit satellites will be less bright. On…

Given that a large number of people reported them as UFOs, it seems likely that they're fairly visible. Personally, I'd find this a nuisance, not a source of excitement. I find it unfortunate that, when trying to enjoy nature, we are so completely unable to escape evidence of human habitation and technology.

They were much brighter and closer together right after deployment than in operation. Already, they've spread out and are now aligned in operational configuration so they're far less noticeable than at first. On par with typical satellites. I spotted them night before last, and it was difficult to see them.

As far as being able to detect evidence of human habitation and technology, that has been the case since the beginning of the Space Age. Choosing to find it a nuisance is, of course, a personal choice, not really something anyone can argue with you about.