This page describes an image Satellite swarm versus night sky beauty, by Torsten Hansen, Germany
Image caption:
Third place in the 2021 IAU OAE Astrophotography Contest, category Light pollution.
This image of Venus and the Pleiades also shows the tracks of the Starlink satellites. These satellites which are located at an altitude of approximately 550 kilometres, are part of an ever-growing constellation of satellites aimed to provide worldwide internet access. The reflective surfaces of the satellites, coupled with the fact that they are orbiting around the Earth, means that astronomical observations which require very long exposures capture “tracks” of the satellites in their images. Astronomical images used for scientific research are not usable because the measurements and data will contain these “tracks”. Because the number of satellites is expected to grow, it is likely that in the near future there will be no place on Earth where these satellites will not be visible crossing the sky. This is a new type of light pollution that seems to be an upcoming problem we will have to deal with, as these satellites might prevent optimal observation of the sky.
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Image credit:
Torsten Hansen/IAU OAE
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.5366442
Related glossary terms:
Artificial Satellite
, Light Pollution
Image license: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) icons
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Captions in Different Languages:
Image caption: Terzo posto al concorso di astrofotografia IAU OAE 2021, categoria Inquinamento luminoso.
Questa immagine di Venere e delle Pleiadi mostra anche le tracce dei satelliti Starlink. Questi satelliti, che si trovano a un'altitudine di circa 550 chilometri, fanno parte di una costellazione di satelliti in continua crescita che mira a fornire accesso a Internet in tutto il mondo. Le superfici riflettenti dei satelliti, unite al fatto che i satelliti orbitano intorno alla Terra, fanno sì che le immagini ottenute in osservazioni astronomiche che richiedono esposizioni molto lunghe catturino le "scie" dei satelliti nelle loro immagini. Le immagini astronomiche destinate alla ricerca scientifica non sono utilizzabili perché le misure e i dati contengono queste "scie". Poiché si prevede che il numero di satelliti crescerà, è probabile che nel prossimo futuro non ci sarà luogo sulla Terra in cui questi satelliti non saranno visibili mentre attraversano il cielo. Si tratta di un nuovo tipo d'inquinamento luminoso con cui dovremo fare i conti, poiché questi satelliti potrebbero impedire un'osservazione ottimale del cielo.
Image credit: Torsten Hansen/IAU OAE
Related glossary terms: Inquinamento luminoso , Satellite artificiale Caption translation status: Approved by a reviewer
Caption translators: Giuliana Giobbi, Francesco Salvestrini
Caption reviewers: Rosa Valiante, Silvia Casu, Anna Wolter
