A statement by the "Group of Friends" (six national delegations and six NGOs) on Dark and Quiet Skies presented at the ongoing Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space Scientific and Technical Subcommittee is now publicly available.
A statement by the "Group of Friends" (six national delegations and six NGOs) on Dark and Quiet Skies presented at the ongoing Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space Scientific and Technical Subcommittee is now publicly available.
"[W]hile [astronomers] continue to work on satellite interference issues, they are expanding their work to other topics broadly associated with space sustainability. These issues range from the threat of obtrusive space advertising and reentries that interfere with their observations to the danger of confusing asteroids with flying Teslas."
Comprehensive reporting by @jeff_foust for @spacenews_inc on Dark & Quiet Skies at #AAS245.
https://spacenews.com/as-the-night-sky-grows-crowded-astronomers-face-a-growing-problem/
The @iau_cps Policy Hub has published two major pieces of its Work Package 2, a survey of global policies intended to deal with "the national and international landscape concerning Dark and Quiet Skies".
"National Approaches to the Protection of Dark and Quiet Skies" https://zenodo.org/records/14566125
and
"The National and International Landscape Concerning Dark and Quiet Skies" https://zenodo.org/records/14579453
Although it was 'published' several months ago, the @iau_cps position statement ("Call to Protect the Dark and Quiet Sky from Harmful Interference by Satellite Constellations") is now on the arXiv which makes it citable.
This is a smart move on the part of DarkSky International. It is increasingly clear that the way to achieve anything like a peaceful coexistence between astronomers and the commercial space industry is to invest in technology development. The D&QS Act would fund such work in part and make brightness/radio mitigations accessible to more companies planning to launch in coming years.
https://darksky.org/news/darksky-endorses-the-dark-and-quiet-skies-act/
𝐀𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭!
Do you want an overview of the technical and scientific aspects of light pollution and radio / optical interference from satellites?
Do you want to learn about the legal avenues for the protection of dark and quiet skies?
Please join the IAU CPS for a Webinar about 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐋𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞 𝐃𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐐𝐮𝐢𝐞𝐭 𝐒𝐤𝐢𝐞𝐬, on 16th or 19th/20th February, depending on your time zone.