IFL Science (19 August 2024)

The Night Sky Is In Danger And Astronomers Are Stepping Up To Protect It

“A problem for us with light pollution on the ground is the ongoing world transition to LED technology, which has made light at night very inexpensive to consume,” Dr John Barentine, the Executive Officer and Principal Consultant at Dark Sky Consulting, told IFLScience. “In the last decade, the brightness of the night sky has been rising around the world on the order of about 10 percent per year on average.”

“We don't want to roll back any progress,” Dr Barentine explained. “The satellite operators have a right to be in space, just as we have a right to access space for astronomy purposes. So we're actively working with them to try to find a solution that is as much of an agreement on the basics as we can reach to where they're able to conduct their activities without causing undue interference to what we're doing.”

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Read more: https://www.iflscience.com/the-night-sky-is-in-danger-and-astronomers-are-stepping-up-to-protect-it-75615