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Starlink is increasingly interfering with astronomy, scientists say (www.semafor.com)

submitted 1 month ago by return2ozma@lemmy.world to c/astronomy@mander.xyz

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[–] PennyRoyal@sh.itjust.works 14 points 1 month ago (1 children)

It’s not the only problem with them, and potentially not the biggest either - there is no plan to remove or maintain them when they die other than de-orbiting them into the upper atmosphere. A recent study suggests that this will critically harm the ozone layer, and that adding metallic particles in the quantities implied by the number of starlink satellites that Elmo plans to launch could do far more damage to the ozone layer than our previous attempts to screw it up!

Article - https://www.sciencealert.com/satellites-like-starlink-could-pose-new-threat-to-our-healing-ozone-layer

Study - https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2024GL109280

[–] threelonmusketeers@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 month ago

Yeah, aluminium oxide particles may be a problem. Some scientists are experimenting with replacing aluminium with wood. I wonder if this would be feasible on future Starlink sats.