5G satellite briefly becomes brightest object in night sky
- Reference: 1696336213
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2023/10/03/5g_satellite_briefly_becomes_brightest/
- Source link:
Astronomers are increasingly concerned human-made space hardware can interfere with their research efforts. In March, [1]research showed the number of Hubble images photobombed in this way nearly doubled from the 2002-2005 period to the 2018-2021 timeframe, for example.
[2]Research in Nature this week shows that the BlueWalker 3 satellite — prototype kit designed to convey 4 and 5G phone signals — had become one of the brightest objects in the night sky and a times exceed recommended limits hundreds of times over.
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The [4]research was based on an international campaign which relied on observations from both amateur and professional observations made in Chile, the US, Mexico, New Zealand, the Netherlands and Morocco.
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BlueWalker 3 has an aperture of 693 square feet (64m 2 ) – about the size of a one-bedroom apartment – to connect to cellphones via 3GPP-standard frequencies. The size of the array creates a large surface area which reflects sunlight. Once it was fully deployed, BlueWalker 3 became as bright as Procyon and Achernar, the brightest stars in the constellations of Canis Minor and Eridanus, respectively.
The research – led by Sangeetha Nandakumar and Jeremy Tregloan-Reed, both of Chile's Universidad de Atacama, and Siegfried Eggl of the University of Illinois – also looked at the impact of the effects of Launch Vehicle Adapter (LVA), the spaceflight container which forms a black cylinder.
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The study found the LVA reached an apparent visual magnitude of four times brighter than the current International Astronomical Union recommendation of magnitude 7 after it jettisoned last year.
"The expected build-out of constellations with hundreds of thousands of new, bright objects will make active satellite tracking and avoidance strategies a necessity for ground-based telescopes," the paper said.
[8]Hubble images photobombed by space hardware on the up
[9]Starlink satellites leak astronomy-disturbing EM radiation, say boffins
[10]Earth is running out of places for stargazers to do dark deeds in the name of science
[11]Satellite operators want option to exceed deorbiting rules
"Despite many efforts by the aerospace industry, policy makers, astronomers and the community at large to mitigate the impact of these satellites on ground-based astronomy, with individual examples such as the Starlink Darksat and VisorSat mitigation designs and Bragg coatings on Starlink Gen2 satellites, the trend towards the launch of increasingly larger and brighter satellites continues to grow.
"Impact assessments for satellite operators prior to launch could help ensure that the impact of their satellites on the space and Earth environments is critically evaluated. We encourage the implementation of such studies as part of launching authorization processes," the research scientists said.
Last month, [12]Vodafone claimed to have made the world's first space-based 5G call placed using an unmodified handset with the aid of the AST SpaceMobile-operated BlueWalker 3 satellite.
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Vodafone said the 5G call was made on September 8 from Maui, Hawaii, to a Vodafone engineer in Madrid, Spain, from an unmodified Samsung Galaxy S22 smartphone, using the WhatsApp voice and messaging app. ®
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[1] https://www.theregister.com/2023/03/03/hubble_satellite_interference/
[2] https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06672-7
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2ZRw6pHF8hhFYpCeBMoa-1wAAAEg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[4] https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-03054-x
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZRw6pHF8hhFYpCeBMoa-1wAAAEg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ZRw6pHF8hhFYpCeBMoa-1wAAAEg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZRw6pHF8hhFYpCeBMoa-1wAAAEg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2023/03/03/hubble_satellite_interference/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2023/07/10/starlink_satellites_leaking_astronomydisturbing_em/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2023/03/20/earth_light_pollution/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2022/09/22/satellite_deorbiting_waivers/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2023/09/21/vodafone_first_space_5g_call/
[13] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ZRw6pHF8hhFYpCeBMoa-1wAAAEg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[14] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Unfortunately - I'd say you're right regarding observatory locations.
Problem is, that'll involve a cost increase of several orders of magnitude for even the most basic of observations, meaning:
a) fewer observatories being commissioned, so less potentially useful science being done
b) an equally large increase in volume from the "Why are they spending money on this, when they could..." crowd, who usually conveniently ignore that this expenditure is a tiny fraction of that used for (shall we say) less "peaceful" pursuits...
The trend towards "data-only" mobile radio links has been going on for many years already. It took forever to get Voice over 4G (VoLTE) rolled out, handsets had to fall back on 3G for standard voice calls all the time. 5G doesn't even have a standard voice protocol. Since the satellite doesn't also support a 4G fallback, there is no other way than to use a third-party voice protocol.
> space based observatories are going to have to continue to be more of a thing
Yay, let's just lift all the units that make up the VLT up into orbit, that should be easy enough! Anyone got a slide rule, want to take a guess at how many launches something like that is going to take?
Space telescopes are really good at some tasks, but for others we are not going to get any better than planet-bound for a long, long time (as in, as soon as we invent whatever powers the Star Trek Next Gen shuttles to get the lift capacity).
Things that Earth-bound 'scopes are good for include all-sky surveys, looking for new things that might just be getting a wee bit too close to us, minor things like that.
> the number of satellites isn't going to decrease
If we are lucky, something more sensible will take their place for comms and then we just (!) have to wait for the majority to de-orbit. Something that our children can look forwards to, perhaps.
It has been suggested that telescopes be built on the far side of the moon. That would dodge the army of satellites in earth orbit, but, gulp..., the expense!
Astronomy tax
We could mandate that for each kg of satellite, commercial operators need to "donate" X amount of currency for building a constellation of high flying orbital observatories.
"You want to ruin the night sky for astronomers by launching your comm-sat constellation? Chip-in to enable astronomy to continue its work."
Re: Astronomy tax
That sets one heck of a precedent. I want to see the Milky Way but there's a huge number of outdoor lights in the way and LEDs have only made the problem worse (a sodium filter used to be reasonably effective). Can I claim compensation for the fuel I need to travel to a dark area from them collectively or is it unreasonable that they should have to pay more for external lighting?
Re: Astronomy tax
Considering how many outdoor lights around here are badly positioned and vastly over-powered for what they claim their function to be[1], even without taking into account the effect on night-sky observing, it would be a very good idea to levy a monthly charge on them. Base the amount on the overspill in every direction.
[1] especially love the supposed "deterrents" that so brightly light the entire area that they simply make it far easier to burgle the place: just carry a clip board and you can load up whatever you want, everybody just assumes you are meant to be doing that because not an ounce of skulking or other suspicious behaviour is required.
Sic transit gloria astra...
This affects not just astronomers and scientists, but every kid who might have looked to the stars and now sees only space-junk whirling by.
Is that Venus? No, kid, that's a telephone relay satellite, an Internet propagator, an automated advertising beacon. You were born too late to see the glory of the planets and the constellations.
Sorry about that. Who knew our saddest science fiction would become a template instead of a warning.
This is great news! I currently have trouble getting a signal in Cromer to talk to someone 5 miles away but if I move to Hawaii it'll be fine!
Space junk
There's that scene in WALL-E commenting on space junk. I'd forgotten about the moon exploitation comment though .... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmG5tUCrrsA
Two observations:
- space based observatories are going to have to continue to be more of a thing. The number of satellites isn't going to decrease - that ship has sailed.
- the most interesting part of this to me is Vodafone's demo call. Not using 'traditional' call method but using Whatsapp! A sign of where things are steadily going where telcos continue to release their grip on voice and messaging (already lost).