Elon Musk's thousands of Starlink satellites aren't just disrupting scientific research by causing streaks in deep space photos — according to a new study, they are also dumping 'unintended electromagnetic radiation' into space, something which could be a major problem for Earth-bound astronomers.
Artist’s impression of a large satellite constellation in low Earth orbit circling above the LOFAR telescope.
Some of the radiation emitting from the satellites falls within a bandwidth that is designated by the International Telecommunications Union to allow radio astronomers to perform their work, according to the study.“We detected radiation between 110 and 188 MHz from 47 out of the 68 satellites that were observed. This frequency range includes a protected band between 150.
Previous research on satellite interference with astronomy has focused on the visual impact of a cluttered night sky, with several studies showing that satellites are leaving pale streaks on thousands of night sky photography, potentially blocking telescopes and cameras from capturing accurate observations from the ground.
In this new study, researchers used observations from a telescope in the Netherlands called the Low Frequency Array to track the radiation coming from onboard electronics on the Starlink satellites. The discovery in this study that there is another confounding signal from satellites for radio astronomers to worry about — this electromagnetic radiation — is something researchers say we need to look into more.
Although this study focused on Starlink satellites due to their high saturation in the market, authors say that other low-Earth-orbiting satellites likely emit the same radiation, and that this isn’t just a SpaceX issue.
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