Meredith RawlsFeb 27
This week has been a long year First, ICYMI, @[email protected] hit a HUGE milestone with our live alert stream going public. I've worked on various aspects of this since joining UW and @[email protected] in late 2016. Learn more about how this works, including how to access the data:

Alert Stream | Rubin Observato...
Alert Stream | Rubin Observatory

Explore how Rubin Observatory will identify changes in the night sky—and let the world know about them within minutes.

Cédric KrierFeb 28
Show threadMeredith Rawls
Meanwhile, since January, some 1.6 million satellites have been proposed. This is bonkers, and it's getting mainstream media attention thanks to the hard work of many wonderful colleagues @[email protected] coauthored a pair of articles theconversation.com/too-many-sat...

Too many satellites? Earth’s o...
Too many satellites? Earth’s orbit is on track for a catastrophe – but we can stop it

Cultural, spiritual, and most environmental impacts aren’t taken into account when launching thousands of satellites.

The Conversation
Feb 27 at 8:55pmWeb
Show threadMeredith RawlsFeb 27
And here's the other one theconversation.com/a-new-space-...

A new space race could turn ou...
A new space race could turn our atmosphere into a ‘crematorium for satellites’

Planned ‘megaconstellations’ of satellites could cause unforeseen harm to the ozone layer and climate systems. Global regulation is needed before it’s too late.

The Conversation
Show threadMeredith RawlsFeb 27
If that has you down, well, welcome to the resistance or something, read this one next. It's a response to an impressively incorrect piece titled "It is time to take astronomy off Earth" and it's by a whole host of @[email protected] past presidents and it is perfect spacenews.com/the-future-o...

The future of astronomy is bot...
The future of astronomy is both on Earth and in space

The future of astronomy is both on Earth and in space

SpaceNews
Show threadMeredith RawlsFeb 27
Meanwhile, the mainstream news media is actually paying attention, because the FCC comment deadlines for both 1 million AI orbital data center satellites (yes, you read that right) and a demonstration space mirror reflector (also sadly correct) is March 6 and 9, respectively

Column | We’re about to turn n...
We’re about to turn night into day. Is that a good idea?

Proposals before the FCC involve mirrors that could bathe entire cities in sunlight and, from SpaceX, a million satellites to serve as data centers.

The Washington Post
Show threadMeredith RawlsFeb 27
What's that? You don't have enough tabs open to learn about how billionaires want to permently alter Earth's orbital space environment? OK then

SpaceX's Ambitious Plan for 1 ...
SpaceX's Ambitious Plan for 1 Million Satellites Faces Growing Environmental Criticism

SpaceX's proposal to launch one million satellites into orbit has ignited a fierce debate between technological innovation and environmental preservation

The Daily Galaxy - Great Discoveries Channel
Show threadMeredith RawlsFeb 27
*permanently (obviously) Anyway, the NYTimes is also writing about it www.nytimes.com/2026/02/26/c...

Sorry, SpaceX: It’s Getting To...
Space X Wants to Launch 1 Million Satellites, but Is There Room?

Elon Musk wants to launch a million satellites, but researchers say global warming is changing the upper atmosphere in ways that makes space junk linger.

The New York Times
Show threadMeredith RawlsFeb 27
This is getting long so here's a few more www.csmonitor.com/USA/2026/022... www.newscientist.com/article/2516... skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-ne...
Satellite data centers might help Earth. But what about space?

As tech companies and governments fill the night sky with satellites, some astronomers are urging caution about creating a “dumping ground’’ in orbit.

The Christian Science Monitor
Show threadMeredith RawlsFeb 27
Right OK so what can you do? Great news, especially if you're in the US (insert feelings here), both @[email protected] and @[email protected] have handy guides for how to write an FCC comment. This is sort of astronomers' equivalent of "call your elected officials" kind of call to action, for context.

Satellite proposals threaten t...
Satellite proposals threaten the night sky

In the United States, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the agency responsible for authorizing satellite launches and operations…

DarkSky International
Show threadMeredith RawlsFeb 27
You don't have to be a professional astronomer to do this, and you don't have to have your talking points perfectly sorted out. You can just write a short letter telling the FCC why you think granting a licence to operate the proposed satellites is a bad idea. Another how-to: aas.org/posts/advoca...

How to Submit Comments on Sate...
Show threadMeredith RawlsFeb 27
To come full circle, you may logically be wondering, well wait, if Rubin Observatory is turning on, and the sky is filling with satellites, isn't that a problem? SURE COULD BE And addressing that is literally what my job is, right now, most of the time. Back to it. 🔭
Show threadHamish BuchananFeb 28
@merrdiff.bsky.social @sundogplanets If we end up with our planet enshrouded with a veil of satellite debris, we will,at least be shielded from any future communications from aliens! So we can save on all that!