Published 22:17 IST, May 28th 2019
Star Block: Astronomers believe that Elon Musk's train of StarLink satellites may eventually block our view of the stars
Astronomers are now complaining that SpaceX's satellite fleet launched on May 23 may block their view of the stars, as per an MIT Technology Review article published on Tuesday.
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Astromers are w complaining that X's satellite fleet launched on May 23 may block ir view of stars hindering ir observations, as per an MIT Techlogy Review article published on Tuesday.
Earlier, on May 23, X launched first 60 satellites of its dream broband satellite fleet - Starlink, into orbit, using a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral, USA.
Stunning visuals from launch were tweeted by X's CEO and founder Elon Musk
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A day after launch, on May 24 a Dutch satellite tracking station SatTrackCam Leiden h captured 60 satellites travelling in in a single file - almost like a train.
video captured by station shows a string of shiny star-like objects ( Starlink satellites) moving in a single file diagonally across pitch-black night sky. satellites were seen in clusters of two or three while some were single. But all were equidistant from each cluster, following same trajectory at same speed.
Here's link to video: https://vimeo.com/338361997
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While sight of satellite train created a slight scare in Nerlands with rumours of an alien invasion running around, according to MIT Tech review se satellites will only be visible at dusk and dawn, rar than at night. reason for ir bright appearance across dark sky was probably due to large solar arrays that are reflecting sunlight back to Earth, according to journal.
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major concern which has been raised by some astromers is that re could eventually be more Starlink satellites visible to naked eye than stars. Talking to Forbes, Ronald Drimmel from Turin Astrophysical Observatory in Italy said, "Starlink, and or mega constellations, would ruin sky for everyone on planet."
While far of this star fleet, Elon Musk was initially defensive and said constellation would t affect observations at all, he h n asked Starlink team to look at ways of reducing reflectivity of satellites—and even suggested that he might be interested in putting a telescope into orbit, as per journal.
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What is Starlink project?
This launch is part of series of satellites to be launched to complete X's ambitious project of building an interconnected satellite network to beam high-speed internet to anywhere on planet. According to Musk, entire Starlink network would consist of 11,943 satellites flying close to Earth, closer than International Station. This has raised concerns among few scientists who believe this continuous stream of satellites launched in orbit may leave a catastrophic clutter of debris which could block rockets from leaving Earth, an effect kwn as "Kessler syndrome".
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22:00 IST, May 28th 2019