Space debris
A recent study, the results of which are published in the journal Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters, found that the ever-growing mass of space debris in low-Earth orbit creates another unexpected problem. The fact is that the sunlight reflected from it, falling on the Earth, makes it difficult for astronomers to observe the stars.
Such a difficult situation can be further aggravated by the mass launch of the Starlink SpaceX Internet satellites and the AST & Science 5G satellites. Knowing this, the developers of Starlink covered them with a special light-absorbing composition. However, representatives of other companies are not in a hurry to do the same. Still, there is hope for a solution to the problem of space debris, says Christopher Kiba, an expert at the German Center for the Study of Light Pollution. In his opinion, although the results of the study look shocking, nevertheless, engineers are working on ways to remove space debris from orbit, and in the near future we can expect serious changes for the better. At the very least, we have a real opportunity to remove the spent satellites and other large fragments from orbit, after which the night sky will become more accessible to observations again.
