5 ms·
I wonder if these things will have any effect on astronavigation. It would be sad to see such a cool practice become impossible.
by LeChuck 6y ago
I wonder if these things will have any effect on astronavigation. It would be sad to see such a cool practice become impossible.
- valuearb 6y agoStarlink Satellites are only visible for short periods just after sunset and before sunrise, because most of the night they are in the earths shadow.
- LeChuck 6y agoYeah. That's the problem. Celestial navigation can only be performed during twilight, as you need to be able to see both the horizon and celestial objects. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twilight#Nautical_dawn_and_dusk https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twilight#Nautical_dawn_and_dus...
- shadowgovt 6y agoI can't imagine it would; Starlink satellites are also moving. Quite fast. So don't do your celestial navigation by the moving thing and you'll be fine.
- catalogia 6y agoI don't see why they would. The stars typically used for astronavigation are very bright; brighter than starlink satellites. A brief web search leads me to believe typical starlink satellites have a magnitude of around 5 or more, while the stars typically used for astronavigation have magnitudes of less than three (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_stars_for_navigation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_stars_for_navigation) Even if that weren't the case, it's easy for the human eye to distinguish a star from a LEO satellite; the satellite is the one that's moving fast. I see no reason the sailors couldn't simply ignore the satellites.
- LeChuck 6y agoIt was the brightness I was worried about, yes. Should've probably just looked it up myself! I don't think astronavigation is used in any serious capacity anymore, so in that sense it's a moot point. Still, it's a cool practice and it would've been too bad to see that go away.