Starlink Satellites March 15th

Hi all, I do hope that you are staying as safe as you can from the virus at the moment, granted it's very stressful for some.

I was out casually observing on Sunday night last with my 15x70 binoculars, it was beautifully clear and calm. I was having a decent time looking around Orion when for my first time, I noticed a line of the new starlink satellites orbiting over the ecliptic.

As these were travelling at the same speed and distance apart, I began to despair at seeing these travel across our night sky. They ranged in brightness for magnitude 2.5 to 4.5, constantly travelling high across the sky. When I counted number 25 I gave up after about 10 minutes. I know this has been talked about before and will again. And this was only one 'train'.

I could only form the opinion that our night sky is being systematically destroyed from a visual and photographic point of view, never mind all the professional observatories that go about their work so well.

I think it was the saddest night I have ever been out under the heavens, it pains me to say. What gets me the most is that this will be the new normal, my own young daughter will never be able to appreciate the night sky like we have been lucky to see. It may be viewed by some as a 'pretty sight', and for Elon musk as a 'magnificent achievement'. He says that SpaceX will do all they can to reduce the affects, with up to 42,000 of these planned, our night sky will not be the same.

I do hope the IAU and ESO keep up the pressure on these guys.

I'd be interested to hear what do any of you think?

Keith..

What surprises me is that Musk seems to be on great terms with NASA, and yet it is NASA which runs many of the big observatories most likely to be affected by this. Seems like a direct conflict of interest there. If they have no influence on him, I doubt if the general public will have much say.

I've only seen the trail on one occasion, and that was by making a specific effort to do so. Once they settle into their higher, fainter orbit I doubt if the casual observer will even notice them, he or she who just looks up randomly at the sky now and again that is.

However on any clear night, numerous other satellites can be seen zipping across from all angles. I've even seen plenty through the narrow fov of my 8-inch, illustrating just how many are up there already. And yet we don't hear many complaints from the professionals regarding these. Never mind the interference from bright aircraft and those polluting contrails (now reducing significantly of course).

So, in other words, I'm sitting on the fence

Finbarr.

I hope that they will be fainter Finbarr, I read today there are currently about 9,000 satellites orbiting at present.

Keith.