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Glossary term: Satellite artificiel

Description: Un satellite artificiel est un dispositif fabriqué par l'homme qui est envoyé dans l'espace, en orbite autour de la Terre ou d'autres objets du système solaire, où la gravité le maintient en orbite. Les satellites artificiels peuvent être construits pour effectuer diverses tâches, notamment prendre des photographies aériennes de la Terre qui aident les météorologues à prévoir le temps, ou prendre des photos de corps astronomiques et de galaxies lointaines, ce qui aide les scientifiques à mieux comprendre le système cosmique. Les satellites artificiels sont également utilisés pour les communications à travers le monde et pour déterminer la position d'une personne, par exemple avec le système de positionnement global (GPS). Le premier satellite artificiel a été lancé dans l'espace en 1957 par l'Union soviétique, sous le nom de Spoutnik 1.

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Term and definition status: The original definition of this term in English have been approved by a research astronomer and a teacher
The translation of this term and its definition is still awaiting approval

The OAE Multilingual Glossary is a project of the IAU Office of Astronomy for Education (OAE) in collaboration with the IAU Office of Astronomy Outreach (OAO). The terms and definitions were chosen, written and reviewed by a collective effort from the OAE, the OAE Centers and Nodes, the OAE National Astronomy Education Coordinators (NAECs) and other volunteers. You can find a full list of credits here. All glossary terms and their definitions are released under a Creative Commons CC BY-4.0 license and should be credited to "IAU OAE".

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Bright streaks form vertical bars, obscuring the starry sky

Satellite swarm versus night sky beauty, by Torsten Hansen, Germany

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.
Credit: Torsten Hansen/IAU OAE

License: CC-BY-4.0 Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) icons

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astroEDU educational activity (links to astroEDU website)
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License: CC-BY-4.0 Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) icons

Tags: Maps , Earth observation , Sentinel , Copernicus , Remote sensing , Altimetry , Radar
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License: CC-BY-4.0 Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) icons

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License: CC-BY-4.0 Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) icons

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License: CC-BY-4.0 Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) icons

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