Beijing, March 3 (Zhongxin Net) -- Springer Nature's professional academic journal Nature Astronomy published a set of four articles in the latest collection, discussing the impact of artificial satellites and space debris on the night sky, and providing suggestions for solving the risk of night sky light pollution and space pollution from multiple perspectives.
According to the series, the number of low-Earth orbit satellites and space debris has been growing in recent years and is expected to intensify. This has led to concern in the astronomical community about the potential effects of light pollution and potential interference with ground-based and space telescopes.
In a "review" article in this series, Fabio Falchi, Italy's Institute of Light Pollution Science and Technology, and collaborators argue that light pollution from the ground and from satellites in low Earth orbit is increasing. They say that because of light pollution, there are almost no remote places on Earth that meet the criteria for hosting observatories (i.e., no light pollution, plenty of clear skies, good visibility). They argue that the fight against light and space pollution is a socio-political rather than a technical issue, and that restraint mechanisms should be introduced to stop the rapid increase in nighttime artificial lighting and satellite clusters.
In a research paper in this series, authors such as Miroslav Kocifaj of the Slovak Academy of Sciences propose a new method for simulating the brightness of the night sky. They explain that night sky modeling typically uses an understanding of light scattering called Mie theory, which presents a simple physical picture of light scattering in the night sky that is easy to calculate. The authors found that the method may be oversimplified in real-world situations and could lead to underestimation of sky glow, especially at low altitudes.
In one of the "Perspectives" article in this series, authors such as John Barentine of Dark Night Consulting in the United States calculated that the overall impact of increased low-Earth orbit satellites and space debris leads to a potential increase in the brightness of the global night sky. This, they argue, could lead to the loss of ground-based astronomical data, as cosmic signals could be lost in noise and could also reduce opportunities for ground-based discoveries and funded observation projects. They also discuss cultural sky traditions around the world, equity/inclusion, environmental degradation, and broader ecosystems that depend on dark skies.
In this series of "Global Perspectives," Aparna Venkatesan of the University of San Francisco discusses the increasingly crowded features of low-Earth orbit, highlighting the negative impact on astronomical observations and dark skies around the world. "Space is our common heritage and ancestors – connecting us through science, narrative, art, origin stories and cultural traditions, and now it's in jeopardy," she argues. (End)