This week I gave nearly the same talk to amateur astronomers (Monday) and to professional astronomers (Thursday).
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But the talk for professionals ended with mostly stunned silence and a room full of overwhelmed scientists. The week after next I'll be giving this talk to 3 physics departments, so I need to think carefully about this response.
Was it because they are all so busy that suggesting even one more thing to do is overwhelming? (Possible)
Was it because the list of actions I suggest are rather futile?
Was it climate grief, but for the night sky?
@sundogplanets
Perhaps they are feeling overwhelmed for all of the reasons stated, and adding to your list geopolitics, the economy, and climate. -
Here's my list of actions (which I frame carefully by saying "when I hear a depressing talk, I want a list of things I can do myself immediately. If you are like that, pick one or two of these and run with it! If not, no guilt!")
Giant, powerful corporations like SpaceX will respond to only 2 things: legislation (which is very slow, and is now totally not going to happen in the US), and consumer pressure.
If you have alternatives, DO NOT USE STARLINK.
If you do not have alternatives (I live in rural Canada, I know how crappy rural internet is), tell Starlink, as a paying customer, that you want them to do a better job with orbital safety, atmospheric pollution, and light pollution. Tell them you want their satellites to be smaller, and you want them to provide service with fewer satellites.
They will listen more to you as a paying customer than to me as a complaining astronomer.
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If you do not have alternatives (I live in rural Canada, I know how crappy rural internet is), tell Starlink, as a paying customer, that you want them to do a better job with orbital safety, atmospheric pollution, and light pollution. Tell them you want their satellites to be smaller, and you want them to provide service with fewer satellites.
They will listen more to you as a paying customer than to me as a complaining astronomer.
Talk to your friends and family about what is happening in orbit – most people have no idea the scale of unregulated commercialization that's now happening.
Tell your local/state/provincial/federal government representatives to support alternative ways of accessing internet (cell towers, new fibreoptic lines). Rural internet is crappy because of *decades* of underfunding rural infrastructure development.
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But the talk for professionals ended with mostly stunned silence and a room full of overwhelmed scientists. The week after next I'll be giving this talk to 3 physics departments, so I need to think carefully about this response.
Was it because they are all so busy that suggesting even one more thing to do is overwhelming? (Possible)
Was it because the list of actions I suggest are rather futile?
Was it climate grief, but for the night sky?
@sundogplanets Is it possible that the amateurs already had some familiarity with this topic, and that’s why they attended the talk? Vs the possibility that it might actually be news to the professionals, who get involved in their own niche and maybe weren’t as aware of the problem? I.e. They were stunned to hear about it for the first time.
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Talk to your friends and family about what is happening in orbit – most people have no idea the scale of unregulated commercialization that's now happening.
Tell your local/state/provincial/federal government representatives to support alternative ways of accessing internet (cell towers, new fibreoptic lines). Rural internet is crappy because of *decades* of underfunding rural infrastructure development.
This one applies to both amateur and professional astronomers: use your skills to show people the beautiful night sky! This is SO important to let the general public know what they are losing thanks to the billionaire space race.
So many astronomers donate their time to public observing nights and star walks and just setting up their telescopes in random places and letting people look through them and sharing beautiful astrophotos. THANK YOU! Keep doing it!!
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But the talk for professionals ended with mostly stunned silence and a room full of overwhelmed scientists. The week after next I'll be giving this talk to 3 physics departments, so I need to think carefully about this response.
Was it because they are all so busy that suggesting even one more thing to do is overwhelming? (Possible)
Was it because the list of actions I suggest are rather futile?
Was it climate grief, but for the night sky?
@sundogplanets "grief for the night sky" -- it's both a poem and a science fiction short story. Hmmm... I'd better get writing it!
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This one applies to both amateur and professional astronomers: use your skills to show people the beautiful night sky! This is SO important to let the general public know what they are losing thanks to the billionaire space race.
So many astronomers donate their time to public observing nights and star walks and just setting up their telescopes in random places and letting people look through them and sharing beautiful astrophotos. THANK YOU! Keep doing it!!
Lastly, join groups who are already fighting. For all of you reading this (statistically mostly non-astronomers), I most highly recommend DarkSky International. They are a fantastic group doing great work!
As an example, please sign this open letter from DarkSky protesting against Reflect Orbital, which will be sent both to the company and to their fucking terrible investors: https://darksky.org/news/organizational-statement-reflect-orbital/
And get ready to write to the FCC when that comment period opens!
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But the talk for professionals ended with mostly stunned silence and a room full of overwhelmed scientists. The week after next I'll be giving this talk to 3 physics departments, so I need to think carefully about this response.
Was it because they are all so busy that suggesting even one more thing to do is overwhelming? (Possible)
Was it because the list of actions I suggest are rather futile?
Was it climate grief, but for the night sky?
@sundogplanets
I am not able to check your data, facts and conclusions but believe you, even all this sounds unbelievable in many ways. Perhaps, and regarding to the overwhelming amount of fake, scientist are more sceptical at first range? -
Here's my list of actions (which I frame carefully by saying "when I hear a depressing talk, I want a list of things I can do myself immediately. If you are like that, pick one or two of these and run with it! If not, no guilt!")
Giant, powerful corporations like SpaceX will respond to only 2 things: legislation (which is very slow, and is now totally not going to happen in the US), and consumer pressure.
If you have alternatives, DO NOT USE STARLINK.
@sundogplanets Unfortunately this is way more difficult than you think. I was happily using T-Mobile, for example. Well, they were basically the first of what I assume will be the rest and started using StarLink for reduced latency and increased coverage somehow.
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Talk to your friends and family about what is happening in orbit – most people have no idea the scale of unregulated commercialization that's now happening.
Tell your local/state/provincial/federal government representatives to support alternative ways of accessing internet (cell towers, new fibreoptic lines). Rural internet is crappy because of *decades* of underfunding rural infrastructure development.
@sundogplanets It's hard to lay down a bunch of tax money on infrastructure we don't own. It's just more corporate handouts. They don't spend it responsibly, we don't get what we want, and it just pads the pockets of already rich assholes who break everything they don't directly own on purpose.
The damn cable people are the worst too. Claim total rights over infrastructure that WE paid for and then use it to just suck us dry.
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Lastly, join groups who are already fighting. For all of you reading this (statistically mostly non-astronomers), I most highly recommend DarkSky International. They are a fantastic group doing great work!
As an example, please sign this open letter from DarkSky protesting against Reflect Orbital, which will be sent both to the company and to their fucking terrible investors: https://darksky.org/news/organizational-statement-reflect-orbital/
And get ready to write to the FCC when that comment period opens!
Now time to get ready for a CBC Sask video interview that I'm somehow supposed to do in my friends' house that is nearly completely full of small knickknacks (mostly elephant figurines) and every wall has hilariously garish 70's wallpaper, and where everyone is still asleep. Wish me luck... #ProfSamLectureTour
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Now time to get ready for a CBC Sask video interview that I'm somehow supposed to do in my friends' house that is nearly completely full of small knickknacks (mostly elephant figurines) and every wall has hilariously garish 70's wallpaper, and where everyone is still asleep. Wish me luck... #ProfSamLectureTour
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Now time to get ready for a CBC Sask video interview that I'm somehow supposed to do in my friends' house that is nearly completely full of small knickknacks (mostly elephant figurines) and every wall has hilariously garish 70's wallpaper, and where everyone is still asleep. Wish me luck... #ProfSamLectureTour
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This one applies to both amateur and professional astronomers: use your skills to show people the beautiful night sky! This is SO important to let the general public know what they are losing thanks to the billionaire space race.
So many astronomers donate their time to public observing nights and star walks and just setting up their telescopes in random places and letting people look through them and sharing beautiful astrophotos. THANK YOU! Keep doing it!!
@sundogplanets as an outright amateur who just loves looking at the night sky (and has done for the last sixty years), I couldn't agree more to this!
And a huge shout-out to the astronomers from the Royal Observatory, Edinburgh, who give their time giving public talks in Edinburgh libraries!
@astroroyalscot.bsky.social -
Here's my list of actions (which I frame carefully by saying "when I hear a depressing talk, I want a list of things I can do myself immediately. If you are like that, pick one or two of these and run with it! If not, no guilt!")
Giant, powerful corporations like SpaceX will respond to only 2 things: legislation (which is very slow, and is now totally not going to happen in the US), and consumer pressure.
If you have alternatives, DO NOT USE STARLINK.
@sundogplanets Even if amateurs understand the topic at hand very well, I’d imagine pros are more likely to understand future consequences, since they not only understand the facts but also how things are done and run when it comes to rules and guidelines. So I guess your talk, which I‘d really love to hear btw, was probably a stark reminder that things aren‘t going well up there.
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Now time to get ready for a CBC Sask video interview that I'm somehow supposed to do in my friends' house that is nearly completely full of small knickknacks (mostly elephant figurines) and every wall has hilariously garish 70's wallpaper, and where everyone is still asleep. Wish me luck... #ProfSamLectureTour
Hope it goes well
And thank you for doing _everything_ that you're doing to keep our orbit, and our night skies, belonging to the planet!
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But the talk for professionals ended with mostly stunned silence and a room full of overwhelmed scientists. The week after next I'll be giving this talk to 3 physics departments, so I need to think carefully about this response.
Was it because they are all so busy that suggesting even one more thing to do is overwhelming? (Possible)
Was it because the list of actions I suggest are rather futile?
Was it climate grief, but for the night sky?
@sundogplanets The realization that what they've dedicated their life and education to might be about to nearly end?
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Lastly, join groups who are already fighting. For all of you reading this (statistically mostly non-astronomers), I most highly recommend DarkSky International. They are a fantastic group doing great work!
As an example, please sign this open letter from DarkSky protesting against Reflect Orbital, which will be sent both to the company and to their fucking terrible investors: https://darksky.org/news/organizational-statement-reflect-orbital/
And get ready to write to the FCC when that comment period opens!
@sundogplanets This probably doesn't help, but my brother is an aerospace engineer whose job is satellites (*not* starlink) -- I asked him about Reflect Orbital over the holiday, and his reaction was scornful. He said it was Simpson's-level stupid. I take this as a hopeful sign. He's not junior level.
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@sundogplanets This probably doesn't help, but my brother is an aerospace engineer whose job is satellites (*not* starlink) -- I asked him about Reflect Orbital over the holiday, and his reaction was scornful. He said it was Simpson's-level stupid. I take this as a hopeful sign. He's not junior level.
@DaveMinor I totally agree! I have written many articles about how incredibly stupid it is! But they're still going to launch it, because investors are even stupider.
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Lastly, join groups who are already fighting. For all of you reading this (statistically mostly non-astronomers), I most highly recommend DarkSky International. They are a fantastic group doing great work!
As an example, please sign this open letter from DarkSky protesting against Reflect Orbital, which will be sent both to the company and to their fucking terrible investors: https://darksky.org/news/organizational-statement-reflect-orbital/
And get ready to write to the FCC when that comment period opens!
@sundogplanets WEll that's sickening. But also one has to wonder why writing to the company that clearly has its feet dug in (and is trying to pass this off as green --blech) would be effective. We need to regulate against light pollution.
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