SpaceX satellites soaring across the night sky have many wondering what they are

If you have looked up at the night sky lately, you may have seen a string of lights blazing by. While these may be an unidentified object to a lot of people, they are part of Elon Musk's goal of universal internet.

These SpaceX satellites, known as Starlinks, are often as bright as an airplane and travel in packs of up to 60 satellites. They orbit the earth at one of the lowest elevations allowed for spacecraft, around 186 miles above earth's surface and up to almost 342 miles high.

Currently there are about 1,800 Starlink satellites in orbit. SpaceX has applied to place upwards of 30,000 satellites in orbit to provide high-speed wireless internet.

For scale, there are about 4,300 active satellites orbiting the planet today and only 11,670 historically ever released into orbit since the launch of the first satellite in 1957. SpaceX began placing Starlink satellites in orbit in May of 2019.

When we reached out to SpaceX for more information they said no one was available for an interview.

"Starlink is just one representative of a whole new class of what are being called satellite mega-constellations," said John Barentine, the director of conservation of the International Dark-Sky Association . These mega-constellations are a group of satellites that fly together in some sort of formation.

While Global Positioning Systems rely on the same idea of formations, there are only a few dozen of these satellites, whereas SpaceX plans to launch thousands and possibly tens of thousands over the next ten years. Barentine said there are other companies both here in the United States and globally that want to build satellite mega-constellation systems aimed at providing high-speed wireless internet.

"By the end of this decade there could be on the order of 100,000 functional satellites in orbit around the earth and that is more than a ten times increase in what there is now," said Barentine.

'Loss of Opportunity'

Many astronomers and astrophotographers have expressed concern over the impact these satellites have on the darkness of the night sky.

Barentine, who holds a Ph.D. in astronomy, explained many astronomers are concerned about the potential loss of scientific data due to interference with photography equipment. He explained equipment used to photograph sensitive astronomical features, such as gamma ray bursts, which only last a few seconds, could be impaced by light from a Starlink satellite. The small dot of light traveling across the camera's sensor could obliterate what researchers are trying to see.

Another effect, recently established in a paper published in April and co-authored by Barentine, looked at the overall impact of the light from the Starlink satellites. These satellites increase the overall brightness of the night sky by shining light, which otherwise would just pass by earth, down towards the surface, adding up to a "diffused glow across the sky," Baretine said.

"I thought it was breathtaking to see, but once it soaks in, it is kind of a little bit heartbreaking," said Kurt Kuznicki, the associate director of Friends of Nevada Wilderness and a local landscape photographer, about seeing a Starlink mega-constellation for the first time. Kuznicki has long been making images of the night sky and what he calls the "ancient light."

He is concerned these satellites will take away from the wildness of the dark skies. While Nevada and the American west are filled with wide open spaces and public lands, Kuznicki said it is hard to find an area without jet traffic and "even harder to find quality dark skies."

'We are fundamentally in a different era'

Barentine has noticed an increase of satellites in the last couple of years. Whenever he takes out his telescope, he said he will see a moving object in nearly every field of view after a few minutes.

He explained that SpaceX has taken measures to mitigate this new form of light pollution. Efforts put in place by SpaceX, according to Barentine, is darken the surfaces of the equipment, install sunshades, and adjust the alignment of the satellites in relation to the sun and the surface of the earth through an elaborate rolling maneuver.

Kuznicki plans to do his research and learn when the satellites are out and work around them when making dark sky photography. While there are several applications photographers and stargazers can use to plan their stargazing and photography, Stellarium is a free program available for most browsers and is a great tool in virtually touring the night sky.

As warmer summer nights approach, stargazing is a perfect excuse to get outside. If you want to know when you may see a string of lights zooming across the sky, check out this website which predicts when a Starlink mega-constellation will cruise by your location.

For more information on the International Dark-Sky Association click here .

Richard Bednarski is a multimedia intern with the Reno Gazette Journal. He is also a master's student in the Reynolds School of Journalism, at the University of Nevada, Reno. He can be reached at rbednarski@gannett.com and 775-527-2156. Please help support his work and local journalism by subscribing.

This article originally appeared on Reno Gazette Journal: SpaceX satellites soaring across the night sky have many wondering what they are