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Just a few days ago, astronomers gave a name to a new illness they suffer from: noctalgia, or the sadness of watching the starry sky disappear.
Noctalgia grips astronomers who launch a call!
And it’s not the work of the International Center for the Protection of Dark and Quiet Skies against Interference from Satellite Constellations, published in the journal Nature, that will cheer them up. Astronomers have studied the effects of the BlueWalker 3 satellite, the prototype of a constellation of more than a hundred others to be used for our mobile communications.
The brightest satellite of all
Observations have been made all over the world. A few weeks after the launch of BlueWalker 3 in September 2022 in low Earth orbit – less than 2,000 kilometers above our heads – they show that the satellite is not only by far the brightest of all, but that it is now also quiet brightest objects in our sky.
Astronomers fear that unless action is taken, our ability to enjoy the spectacle of stars from Earth will be lost forever.
This new satellite, which has become too bright, is angering astronomers
They also warn that BlueWalker 3 could even interfere with radio astronomy observations. Because it actively transmits at frequencies similar to those used by researchers in the field.