Astronomy Faces A Mega-Crisis As Satellite Mega-Constellations Loom
The night sky is already noticeably different, and bigger changes are ahead.
For all of human history until the launch of Sputnik, the only objects in the night sky were naturally occurring ones. From any dark sky site in the world, which included many suburban and rural areas in the 1950s, you could simply look up on a clear night and take in the vast expanse of the Universe beyond our world. In the absence of light pollution, a moonless night would reveal to your naked eye thousands of stars, numerous deep sky objects, extraordinary detail in the Milky Way, and even the occasional comet or asteroid.
Since the dawn of the space age, the night sky has changed in two major ways. The rise of light pollution, made worse by the recent widespread adoption of LED lighting, has restricted pristine, dark skies to a few isolated locations around the globe. Satellites, on the other hand, were only a minor nuisance until recently. Over the past 18 months, the construction of satellite megaconstellations has begun, and the impact has been severe on professional and amateur astronomers alike. Astronomy is facing a crisis, and although some players in the industry are listening, no one has yet met even the basic criteria set forth by astronomers worldwide. Here’s what…
