Scientists have named one of the brightest objects in the night sky
- October 3, 2023
- 0
Scientists from the International Astronomical Union (IAU) announced that one of the brightest objects visible in the night sky is not a star or a planet, but the
Scientists from the International Astronomical Union (IAU) announced that one of the brightest objects visible in the night sky is not a star or a planet, but the BlueWalker 3 prototype satellite.
As reported by Ukrinform, one of the researchers and astronomers, Meredith Rawls from Washington State University in Seattle, stated this in a comment to Space.com.
Photo: Michael Tzukran
“This (BlueWalker 3 prototype satellite – ed.) is ‘unacceptably’ bright for many skywatchers around the world,” he said.
BlueWalker 3 is believed to be the largest commercial antenna system ever deployed into low Earth orbit. The satellite prototype was launched into orbit in September 2022.
The device takes up approximately 64 square meters of space in total. Because its panels are reflective, BlueWalker 3 looks like a giant mirror that constantly reflects sunlight back to the human eye on Earth.
Despite the thousands of satellites currently in space, BlueWalker 3 is “the brightest of them all,” according to Rawls.
As Ukrinform reported, China successfully launched the Yaogan-33 04 Earth remote sensing satellite, the fourth in this series of spacecraft, into near-Earth orbit on the morning of September 27.
First photo: SpaceX
Source: Ukrinform
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