Satellites have brightened the night sky by 10% – and it’s getting worse

Paint them Vanta black

Tau.Neutrino said:

Satellites have brightened the night sky by 10% – and it’s getting worse

Paint them Vanta black

10% based on what? On the night sky from 1960?

Naked eye viewing you’re supposed to be able to see about 1,000 stars.
Last time I counted, which should have been from a supposed dark sky site, I could only see 110.

In other words, the brightness of the night sky is about magnitude 2, when it should be magnitude 4.
Or an increase in night sky brightness of 530% (or I’m getting blinder). Against which a mere 10% brightness increase due to satellites is small.

But satellite tracks are a pain for telescopes. Andromeda galaxy before satellite track removal.

> Paint them Vanta black

Spy satellites probably already are.

But you want your satellites to be reflective, because otherwise dead satellites are impossible to track, making them a big navigation hazard. Perhaps dark grey. ;-)