A new study shows that SpaceX’s Starlink satellites are leaking radiation into the night sky as they orbit the Earth, which could hamper astronomers’ efforts to pick up radio signals. from the farthest reaches of the universe.
All satellites, including SpaceX’s rapidly growing ones star link constellations, emitting and receiving radio waves to and from our planet to communicate with the people who run them on the ground. Radio astronomers have known about this for many years, and can minimize the impact of these manipulated beams on their work by avoiding the positions of these satellites or calculating the signal during calculation.
But in the new study, published July 3 in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics, researchers have shown that the Starlink satellites also emit previously unrecognized and unintended radio signals, separate from the signals they send and receive from our planet. Some of these signals overlap with those detected by radio telescope dishes – representing a new problem in this area of science.
The study’s lead author has hypothesized an unintended radioactive leak before, but this is the first time it has been directly observed. Federico Di Vrunoco-director of the International Astronomical Union’s Center for the Protection of the Dark and Quiet Sky from interference by satellite constellations, said in a declare.
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For the study, the researchers used the Low-Frequency Array (LOFAR) telescope — an array of radio dishes primarily in the Netherlands, as well as in seven other European countries — to closely monitor the amount of gas. emissions of 68 Starlink satellites.
The team found that 47 of the satellites were emitting unintended radiation with frequencies between 110 and 188 megahertz. This frequency range covers a protected frequency band between 150.05 and 153 MHz specifically allotted by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) for radio astronomy. Cees Bassaan astronomer at the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy, said in the statement.
However, SpaceX is not breaking any rules because ITU law only prevents terrestrial radio sources from transmitting at these wavelengths near radio telescopes.
SpaceX may not be the only culprit; The researchers hope to detect similar radiation from many other satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO). The problem could also get worse as the number of private satellites in LEO continues to grow significantly. For example, there were only 2,000 Starlink satellites in LEO when the data was collected, but there are now more than 4,000.
«Our simulations show that the larger the constellation, the more important this effect becomes when the radiation from all the satellites is combined,» said co-author of the study. Józsa Gyula, an astronomer at the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Germany, said in the statement. «This made us worry not only about the existing constellations, but even more about the planned ones.»
The team has begun talking to SpaceX about how the company can help mitigate the problem in the future, and so far, negotiations have progressed positively, the researchers wrote in the statement. However, many other private companies will also need to consider the issue, they added. Groups are calling for new regulations that would bring space-based radio emissions in line with terrestrial emissions.
Emitting radio signals isn’t the only way satellites can interfere with astronomy. Shiny spacecraft can also reflect light back to the planet’s surface, which can leave white streaks on time-lapse images. In December 2022, the International Astronomical Union warned that the world’s largest communications satellite, called BlueWalker 3, was generating possible interference»seriously impede progress in our understanding of the universe.»
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