Photo Reveals Crazy Number of Satellites Now in Orbit

Last February, a remote research station in the Canadian High Arctic captured a striking image of the night sky. It showed a dense network of bright streaks against the blackness. Those streaks were satellites, hundreds of them. 

Western University in Ontario and Defence Research and Development Canada collaborated to install 14 cameras at the tiny research station of Eureka on Ellesmere Island. Typically used to track meteors, these cameras monitor satellite activity over Canada. Each camera takes tens of images a second throughout the night. Together, the 14 cameras capture the full night sky. 

Taking so many photos so quickly allows them to track anything over 30cm wide passing overhead, including satellites. By combining all of the frames into one composite, the team created a long-exposure image that shows the trajectory of every satellite that passed over the region in one night. The result is both beautiful and startling. The trails of manmade objects in low orbit fill the sky like a woven fabric.

The launch of thousands of new satellites in recent years, especially mega-clusters such as Starlink, has transformed the sky by creating this visual clutter. The average person doesn't notice it, but it's become increasingly difficult for astronomers to observe the natural night sky. Satellite trails interfere with long-exposure images of stars and galaxies. It is vital that we can continue to observe the universe from Earth without peering through a haze of artificial lights.

Four similar stations exist elsewhere in Canada, in central British Columbia and in Saskatchewan. Over one year, the sites have collected nearly half a billion satellite observations, tracking more than 17,000 objects in orbit.