Close Menu
    Brightness of first Chinese broadband constellation satellites alarms astronomers
    Technology

    Brightness of first Chinese broadband constellation satellites alarms astronomers

    View 7 Comments

    7 Comments

    2. Turbulent_Raccoon865 on

      >The first satellites of a Chinese broadband constellation are significantly brighter than those of Western systems, posing a new challenge for astronomers.

      >In a paper posted on the arXiv preprint server Sept. 30, a group of observational astronomers reported on observations of a set of 18 Qianfan, or “Thousand Sails,” satellites launched in August. The satellites are the first of a constellation that may ultimately consist of more than 14,000 satellites.

      >The study found that the brightness of the satellites ranges from magnitude 8 when low in the sky to magnitude 4 when nearly overhead. That makes the satellites, at those higher elevations, bright enough to be seen by the naked eye…

      This is a significant problem made all the worse by plans to have ‘more than 14,000 satellites’.

    3. Agreeable_Service407 on

      >SpaceX made changes to the design of their Starlink satellites because early observations demonstrated that their Generation 1 spacecraft would impact astronomy.

      There was the exact same issue with starlink. China will probably do the same modifications, no need for china bashing when they’re only doing what the US did.

    4. sai-kiran on

      How long before they put RGBW lights on them and we see planet scale ads for Ali express and Temu.

    5. maxwellhawks on

      The brightness of new satellites may have a major impact on astronomical observations, prompting concerns about how to embrace innovation and balance the growth of technology with the preservation of the night sky.

    6. TapTheMic on

      There’s a reason we launched the Hubble and James Webb telescopes.

      We’re slowly entering an age where conventional astronomical observations won’t be able to be done on earth. That’s not really a surprise. We’ve had garbage and dead satellites piling up around earth’s orbit for decades.