Humans have done the impossible! The brightest object in the sky now is not a celestial body anymore

A new satellite has turned into one of the brightest things present in the night sky and has sparked concerns regarding the future of astronomy among scientists.

The bright paths of satellite BlueWalker 3 along with other new satellites are likely to shine as bright as the neighbouring planets in the night sky which will make it difficult for astronomers to observe the universe without streaks of light pollution from such satellites, stated a new study published in the journal Nature.

BlueWalker 3, which is a prototype communications satellite, has a 692-square-foot array which is a large flat surface like a mirror and reflects sunlight back to Earth.

As per the study, the magnitude of the satellite’s peak brightness is 0.4.

"The startling conclusion from our study is that the BlueWalker 3 satellite is one of the brightest things in the sky," said Meredith L. Rawls, co-author of the paper and astronomy research scientist in the Department of Astronomy and DiRAC at the University of Washington, while speaking to Newsweek.

ALSO READ |US govt imposes historic $150,000 space debris penalty on Dish Network

"Keep in mind, astronomers use a magnitude system, which is "backwards"—brighter objects have smaller magnitudes, so 0.4 is quite bright," explained Rawls.

"There are only about six stars that are brighter in the night sky than this. For context, the way magnitudes work is, something that is magnitude 2 is only about 40 percent as bright as something that is magnitude 1. The unaided eye can see objects down to about magnitude 7 from a very dark site. Venus' apparent magnitude in the sky is about -4 (it's extremely bright!),” she added.

Light pollution hindering detection of asteroids

A negative magnitude reflects that the object is brighter. The magnitude of the sun is -27, while that of the full moon is -13.

"While there is only one BlueWalker 3 so far, it is important to characterise its brightness and understand its impact, since many groups are planning to launch many bright satellites to LEO [low Earth orbit] in the near future," Rawls stated.

The problems arising from BlueWalker and other bright satellites in the night sky are because of the amount of light they are reflecting back to the ground.

WATCH |Gravitas: US plans to establish space hotline with China

In an article published on Astronomy.com, Rawls explained that the light reflected by satellites will hinder the detection of other objects, which include near-Earth asteroids, during the twilight hours.

"The problems here on Earth range from interference with astronomical observatories doing sky surveys to a possible interference with migrating birds being misdirected due to its appearance," said Brad Young, co-author and lead coordinator of visual observing at the International Astronomical Union Centre for the Protection of the Dark and Quiet Sky from Satellite Constellation Interference, which is based in Paris, while speaking to Newsweek.

(With inputs from agencies)

You cannow write forwionews.comand be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with ushere.