The enormous, next-generation communications satellite BlueWalker 3 has become one of the brightest objects visible in the night sky, according to new research published today in the journal Nature.
While BlueWalker 3 is groundbreaking for its ability to essentially turn ordinary smartphones into satellite phones, it might also usher in a new generation of satellites that create way more light pollution than their older, smaller predecessors. Rapidly growing mega-constellations of internet satellites are already mucking up researchers’ observations of worlds beyond Earth. BlueWalker 3 is the brightest satellite in low Earth orbit yet, and astronomers fear it’s just the tip of the iceberg.
“If it does become an issue, then it’s going to completely change the night sky.”
“Let’s nip it in the bud now before it does become an issue. If it does become an issue, then it’s going to completely change the night sky,” says Jeremy Tregloan-Reed, one of the authors of the new Nature paper and an astronomer and assistant professor at the Universidad de Atacama in Chile.
BlueWalker 3 is about as bright as the eighth brightest star visible from Earth, Procyon, according to the new research. Only the Moon, Jupiter, Venus, and seven stars in our night sky are brighter than BlueWalker 3. That’s based on observations by professional and amateur astronomers from Chile, the US, Mexico, New Zealand, the Netherlands, and Morocco…
Full article at: This giant, next-generation satellite is now one of the brightest objects in the night sky
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