More satellites than stars, an SOS from astronomers for the night sky

There might soon be more satellites than stars in the night sky, and for this reason astronomers are determined to combat the light pollution that makes it increasingly harder to observe the sky. They have sent out an SOS in defence of the night sky in four articles published by the journal Nature Astronomy. The appeal was illustrated to ANSA by Fabio Falchi of the Light Pollution Science and Technology Institute (ISTIL) of Thiene near Vicenza and the University of Santiago di Compostela in Spain, and the author of one of the articles defending astronomical observations.

The other articles are by Miroslav Kocifaj of the Slovakian Academy of Sciences, John Barentine of the firm Dark Sky Consulting LLC, and Aparna Venkatesan of the University of San Francisco (USFCA). “The satellite mega-constellations that populate Earth’s low orbit are launched without any prior testing of their environmental impact, and they merely present us with a fait accompli, without giving us a chance to do anything about it,” Falchi observes.

The appeal maintains that the problems with fighting light and space pollution are socio-political, not technological, and that binding limits should be introduced. “The interests that lie behind the networks of satellites that offer Internet access all over the globe are also of a military type,” says Falchi. “When the United States has completed its constellations, other countries like Russia or China will try to build their own, and so an escalation will be inevitable,” he adds.