Perfect timing, as just this past week I’ve been wondering about these low-frequency gravitational waves that were announced with a splash last summer, then I heard nothing, that is until now.
It takes a while to go through the data and find specific parameters you’re looking for. This is radio astronomy, using data from antenna telescopes all over the world. For comparison in a similar type of project, it took two years to crunch the numbers from the Event Horizon Telescope and resolve a fuzzy image of the supermassive black hole in M87.
According to the article, a galaxy far far away looked like the Milky Way a long time ago. According to simulations, anyway. So, we can use it (along with other similar galaxies at different distances) to learn about the evolution of the Milky Way, the galaxy where all the coolest people live.
What’s the point of looking at the stars of we never reach for them? At some point the telescopes have to move into space, we can’t stay earthbound forever
Or we could regulate the reflectivity of satellites. No one is suggesting we shouldn’t have satellites. Why don’t we do satellites on purpose in a way that still allows us to also do effective astronomy?
“Shouldn’t have satellites” at all vs. “maybe let’s not approve this one corporation doing this completely unregulated activity.” If you really can’t tell the difference between those two things, I can’t help you.
“limited to how nonreflective they can get the satellites”
A hype-riding not-actually-a-scientist billionaire apartheid prince says it can’t be done, and no one that works for him wants to say otherwise because they don’t want to be fired.
Love how you also completely ignore the dozens of other companies designing and/or beginning deployment of massive satellite constellations just like Starlink. Some of them even multiple times larger than what Starlink is aiming for.
There very much are astronomers that have said they do not want ANY LEO satellite constellations.
They can’t make them non-reflective enough to not interrupt really deep observing. Also, that just shifts the problem around. If they are absorbing in the visible, they will likely have huge amounts of blackbody radiation in IR, sub/millimeter, and radio. You would need to make a satellite out of dark matter to not interrupt astronomy.
How about not putting a bunch of janky constantly-needing-replenishment laggy-internet satellites into orbit to begin with where the only real beneficiaries outside of bullshit “remote” excuses is the US military?
Throw enough glittering trash into orbit and your “can’t stay earthbound forever” platitudes become self-defeating because at some point nothing could be safely launched.
I already knew that; my point was that letting your euphorically under-regulated corporate saviors do whatever they please (which can and probably will include higher orbit satellite junk later on) under pretenses of pretentious “reach the stars” platitudes is interfering with actual contemporary scientific inquiry, right now.
The pollution of each launch is significant, and the benefit of the janky low orbit network is questionable (except to the US military), especially because it requires constant additional launches.
but have you considered that this under-regulated shlock allows for command and control in warzones across the world shitty internet service in “remote areas”
Just use fluffy euphoric speeches about destiny and reaching for the stars, prattle that could fit in a movie with a soundtrack composed by Hans Zimmer, and you can sell the “I FUCKING LOVE SCIENCE” crowd almost anything, including actual contempt and dismissal for actual scientists (astronomers in this case). so-true
Man, I just went to a good seminar today on finding habitable exoplanets that emphasized that we currently need ground based telescopes, because it is still impractical to make 30+ meter telescopes in space and would be very expensive, even if could be done. But progress is just launching a bunch of bullshit into orbit to avoid real investment in infrastructure like fiber and other telecommunication lines.
But progress is just launching a bunch of bullshit into orbit to avoid real investment in infrastructure like fiber and other telecommunication lines.
With sufficient tweets/xeets/whatever about how “we can’t stay earthbound forever” and “we must spread the light of consciousness to the stars,” extremely credulous “I FUCKING LOVE SCIENCE” bazinga brains will happily see actual science being trampled upon in favor of performative spectacle bullshit.
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