The Conversation contributed the article to Space.com's expert voices.
Michael J. I. Brown is an associate professor of astronomy at the university.
There is a wilderness in the night sky. It is possible to see the stars in the same way as your ancestors did hundreds of years ago on a dark night. You can see the stars in the sky.
The night sky can be dirty. Thousands of satellites and pieces of space junk have been launched into the sky.
Satellites crossing the night sky are not a big deal for now. With the advent of satellite constellations, this may change.
There are strange things about the Starlink internet satellites.
The recent launch of BlueWalker 3, a prototype for a satellite constellation, raises the possibility of bright satellites in the sky. The largest commercial communications satellite is 64 square meters and it is very bright.
Pollution of the night sky could become a problem due to the increasing number of satellites in the night sky.
Satellites can be seen in the night sky on a clear day. The satellites are just a few hundred kilometers above Earth and are travelling at an average speed of 8 kilometers per second.
You can use apps and websites to predict the arrival of satellites. It is enjoyable to see the International Space Station travel by and see the crew of astronauts.
The pace of satellite launches has increased. Thousands of Starlink satellites that provide internet services have been launched by the company.
A group of 50 Starlink satellites are launched into the sky by each rocket. These initially produced UFO reports, but are now commonplace to not be much of a news story.
The Starlink satellites are close to the limit of what can be seen with the eyes.
There are trails in the images taken with telescopes. The trails can only be fixed by taking more pictures. A brief flash from agamma-ray burst could be lost.
Thousands of satellites are in the Starlink constellation, but others are planned as well.
More than 3,200 Project Kuiper satellites will be launched by Amazon's Blue Origin and more than 100 BlueBird satellites will be launched byAST Space Mobile.
The BlueWalker 3 prototype has caused alarm among the astronomy community.
The BlueWalker 3 communications array is roughly the size of a squash court. BlueWalker 3 is now as bright as some of the stars in the night sky because of the large surface that reflects sunlight.
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A large number of satellites could be bad. You wouldn't be able to see the night sky without seeing satellites.
A constant reminder of technology in the sky would make us lose our sense of wilderness.
The impact on professional astronomy could be significant. Satellites that are brighter do more damage to images.
Satellites broadcast at radio frequencies that could interfere with radio astronomy and transmit radio waves above remote sites where radio observatories watch the heavens.
It is not clear what will happen next.
The approval of satellite constellations by the US Federal Communications Commission has had relatively little consideration of the environment.
This is a problem that the U.S. Government Accountability Office has flagged as a major problem.
We might be on the edge of a cliff. There will be artificial satellites in the night sky for internet or 5G. Will the night sky be preserved as a global wilderness?
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