Abstract
Significant changes to the character of the night sky have occurred with the advent of widespread use of LED technology for outdoor lighting worldwide, as well as with the development of so-called “megaconstellations” of satellites intended to provide worldwide broadband internet connectivity from low Earth orbit. In this talk, I will review the principal impacts of LEDs and satellites on the sky for both visual observing and remote sensing, as well as the work underway to mitigate the rapidly growing ground-based and space-based impacts.
From LEDs to Satellites: Ground-Based and Space-Based Challenges to Dark Skies
Significant changes to the character of the night sky have occurred with the advent of widespread use of LED technology for outdoor lighting worldwide, as well as with the development of so-called “megaconstellations” of satellites intended to provide worldwide broadband internet connectivity from low Earth orbit. In this talk, I will review the principal impacts of LEDs and satellites on the sky for both visual observing and remote sensing, as well as the work underway to mitigate the rapidly growing ground-based and space-based impacts.