Heller als Sterne: Warum grosse Satelliten problematisch sind

Ein Forschungsteam stellte fest, dass der Satelliten-Prototyp Blue-Walker 3 heller leuchtet als die meisten Sterne.

Transcript

00:00 A research team found that the satellite prototype Blue Walker 3 is brighter than most stars.

00:07 The light pollution causes problems.

00:11 Presently, there are estimated 7,000 to 8,000 satellites orbiting the Earth.

00:17 This not only brings advantages,

00:20 the celestial objects reflect the sunlight and increase the brightness of the night sky.

00:25 However, this happens to the crew of astronomers and hobby astronomers.

00:30 As a scientific study has now found,

00:34 the satellite prototype Blue Walker 3 of the US company AST SpaceMobile poses a special problem.

00:41 Two months after its launch on 10 September 2022,

00:46 it unfolded its huge antenna at an altitude of between 500 and 600 km above the Earth.

00:53 Since then, the satellite has been polluting the universe.

00:56 Due to its enormous size, it reflects a lot of light.

01:00 Meanwhile, Blue Walker 3 is one of the brightest artificial objects in the night sky, according to Standard.

01:08 An international team of scientists and hobby astronomers examined the phenomenon in more detail.

01:15 According to Standard, their analysis confirmed all fears.

01:19 Blue Walker 3 shines as brightly as the brightest stars in the constellation of Little Dog and River Eridanus.

01:25 But that's not enough.

01:28 AST SpaceMobile plans a communication system with 168 even larger satellites than Blue Walker 3.

01:36 There are also human-made objects in the sky that are even brighter,

01:41 such as the International Space Station (ISS).

01:45 However, their trajectory is calculated precisely and can be taken into account when planning astronomical observations.

01:52 And in the meantime, they have also learned to deal with bright stars.

01:57 In addition to the light pollution, Blue Walker 3 could also affect radio astronomy,

02:03 as it uses similar wavelengths as radio telescopes.

02:07 Although some telescopes are located in radio silence zones, they are not necessarily protected from satellite transmissions.

02:15 On the one hand, the new generation of satellites is of course a improvement in communication.

02:22 On the other hand, however, researchers warn that this could prevent the world from being examined.

02:29 They plead that their efforts should be carefully weighed.

02:34 In addition, efforts should be made to minimize their impact on astronomy.

02:41 Thank you.