SpaceX's Starlink internet satellites 'leak' so much radiation that it's hurting radio astronomy, scientists say

[Admin]

Hum from onboard electronics that power SpaceX's internet-beaming Starlink satellites may disturb radio astronomy observations, a new study has found.

SpaceX's Starlink internet satellites 'leak' so much radiation that it's hurting radio astronomy, scientists say : Read more

 

[EarthShattering]

Interesting that you single out SpaceX satellites. Is there a valid reason or was that just an opportunity to smear Elon Musk? If the latter, I beg you to keep ideology out of science.

 

[CheckRide]

I'm 100% confident it was not a starlink sat. Starlinks transmit at 2000 MHz which would be the sat downlink to the user terminal and 500 MHz which is the uplink from user terminal to sat. No radio telescopes operating in that range would be able to see interference from a starlink sat.

 

[Classical Motion]

For those who understand radio this could become a real problem. It's comparable to using spark gap transmitters. In context with the sensitive equipment we use today. One of the reasons our modern sensitive equipment works so well......is because we have standards, conditions and restrictions on the emissions we can legally manufacture. There are no spark gap transmitters permitted today.......except in orbit and space, it now appears from the article. What I mean by that is that international emission treaties apparently are not valid in space/orbit. This is real bad juju.

There are many multiples of, and sub multiples of, plus un-related frequencies, that are used to manufacture the RX and the TX frequencies. In the U.S. and other countries, only the licensed frequency can be emitted. All other frequencies have to be suppressed to a certain ratio of the TX signal power. Some restrictions apply to limit these spurious signals......no matter what the TX power. There are many other restrictions also. We would need a textbook to go thru them.

Anyhow, if this is not suppressed and controlled, the far side of the moon might be the only place left to listen to the stars. This is terrible news about the filthiness of our sat emissions. And there is no excuse for it with today's tech, except for cost. So now we not only have space debris clutter, we have a RF clutter zone along with it. An antenna array can track and nail down an interference source in a heartbeat. It's not a probability.

 

[Harry Costas]

It's just amazing how far man has come from 50 - 60 years ago.

I still remember my Log Tables.

 

[Classical Motion]

And a slide rule. My roommate in college told me he caught me using an invisible slide rule in my sleep. And I didn't doubt him. Some classes were very slide rule intensive. I used to have several but they've all disappeared now.

 

[Unclear Engineer]

Some classes were very slide rule intensive. I used to have several but they've all disappeared now.

Yes, some tests were very "intensive" with a slide rule. We used to joke about making water cooling jackets for them to use in a couple of our engineering courses.

But, now with all the wiz-bang calculators, test time is not taken up by mechanical manipulations, and you are expected to be able to answer more questions.

I still have a few slide rules sitting around - just in case one of those apocalyptic scenarios actually happens. And they do help explain logarithms to people who need to think of things physically.

 

[Harry Costas]

Yes
I remember where my slide rule is.
Got it out
And my son said what's that.

 

[blazeww420]

Really. Can say they can see atmospheres light years away. Planets from the wobble of its parent star, dimming light from planets passing by a star.. even tell what gases are in an atmosphere light years away.... but no... satellites that have a set frequency mess up the radio telescopes... As those satellites aren't even in frequency range the RT picks up. Like what can't tell human made from natural even tho the energies and process to make each are vastly different.

Like um... how do they see anything then if radiation that's not like what is being looked for blocks the view? How do they see past all the other stuff then?

Can't even see past man made stuff... so are they full of crap?

 

[Classical Motion]

When you look closely at starlight not with your eyes, but with an amplifier(collector) and a prism(spectrometer).....you will see a rainbow........with black slots in it. A pattern of black lines.

If you shine white light thru elements of the periodic table....you will see a partial rainbow and black slots there too. All the stars, and all the elements have a different pattern of those black slots.

First they look at the star black slot pattern. Then they watch for a change in that pattern when the planet crosses the star. A new slot pattern indicates the elements(and molecules) on that planet crossing.

It's not perfect, but it gets better all the time. And not being an astronomer, I'm quite sure there are other methods. Or will be.

When there's a demand, we improve our instruments and methods. These reports are not fairy tales.

There is probably lot's more information and data than published......waiting for some confirmation. Or procedures these people go thru.

This is the new big thing. We will be hearing about these discoveries for years to come. And they will get better and better at it.

We will have to wait and see if there is any benefit. But it keeps our instruments sharp.

 

[Harry Costas]

Man has come so far, scratching the surface.
And yet
Some scientists think they have cracked the ways of the universe.
I Quess we all fall into that path.

 

[Pogo]

I still have a Pickett slide rule and a 9 digit abacus I used in school. I no longer have the trig and log book I used. In 1972 when I was in the Navy, I bought a four function calculator for $180 from someone used, then later the HP45 new for $395.

 

[Harry Costas]

All those simple calaculators from the 60s to 70s were so much fun.
I remember one caluclator with a short tape added for calculations.
But! during the sixties the brain was used more in search for.