Joshua Rozells on Instagram: "Swamped skies The light pollution caused by satellites is quickly becoming a growing problem for astronomers. In 2021, over 1700 spacecrafts and satellites were put into orbit. Light pollution caused by SpaceX's Starlink satellites are the worst offenders because they are low Earth orbit satellites, and they travel in satellite trains. One can only assume the issue will exponentially increase in the next few years, with SpaceX alone intending to launch over 40,000 satellites in total. The space industry is almost entirely unregulated, with no limits on the amount of satellites that anyone is able to launch and there is currently no regulation in place to minimise the light pollution they cause. Thankfully astronomers across the globe have taken notice of this growing issue and are starting to speak up. Organisations such as the International Astronomical Union's Center for the Protection of the Dark and Quiet Sky are advocating for the regulation and protection of the night sky. In late January last year I went out to the Pinnacles, Western Australia to shoot a star trail. Upon reviewing my photos, I noticed an unusually large number of satellites in my photos; there were satellite trails visible in almost every single photo from over 3 hours of shooting. Instead of trying to get rid of them for a star trail, I decided to put the satellite trails together into a single image to show how polluted the night sky is becoming. The end result is 343 photos (over 85 mins) worth of satellite images blended together with a low light level photo used for the foreground. The sky's contrast, highlights, and whites were increased to emphasise the satellites. Photoshop was used to blend the satellite trails and remove the gap between the satellite trails. #astrophotography #astrophoto #nightphotography #space #spacex #satellite #nightscaper #longexposure #bestdarkphoto #longexposure_shots #nightshooters #nightscape #sonyalpha #australia #westernaustralia #australiascoralcoast #stars #starrynight"

937 likes, 58 comments - joshua_rozells on May 26, 2022: "Swamped skies The light pollution caused by satellites is quickly becoming a growing problem for astronomers. In 2021, over 1700 spacecrafts and satellites were put into orbit. Light pollution caused by SpaceX's Starlink satellites are the worst offenders because they are low Earth orbit satellites, and they travel in satellite trains. One can only assume the issue will exponentially increase in the next few years, with SpaceX alone intending to launch over 40,000 satellites in total. The space industry is almost entirely unregulated, with no limits on the amount of satellites that anyone is able to launch and there is currently no regulation in place to minimise the light pollution they cause. Thankfully astronomers across the globe have taken notice of this growing issue and are starting to speak up. Organisations such as the International Astronomical Union's Center for the Protection of the Dark and Quiet Sky are advocating for the regulation and protection of the night sky. In late January last year I went out to the Pinnacles, Western Australia to shoot a star trail. Upon reviewing my photos, I noticed an unusually large number of satellites in my photos; there were satellite trails visible in almost every single photo from over 3 hours of shooting. Instead of trying to get rid of them for a star trail, I decided to put the satellite trails together into a single image to show how polluted the night sky is becoming. The end result is 343 photos (over 85 mins) worth of satellite images blended together with a low light level photo used for the foreground. The sky's contrast, highlights, and whites were increased to emphasise the satellites. Photoshop was used to blend the satellite trails and remove the gap between the satellite trails. #astrophotography #astrophoto #nightphotography #space #spacex #satellite #nightscaper #longexposure #bestdarkphoto #longexposure_shots #nightshooters #nightscape #sonyalpha #australia #westernaustralia #australiascoralcoast #stars #starrynight".