<![CDATA[These companies all want sun-synchronous terminator orbits, so that they can be sunlit all the time*.]]>These companies all want sun-synchronous terminator orbits, so that they can be sunlit all the time*. Sun-synchronous orbits have a nodal precession rate that matches Earth's orbit period around the sun. Meaning, they keep the same configuration relative to local daytime. If the satellite passes over the equator where it is 6pm directly under the satellite, it will always do that.

*important problem with this assumption coming later in the thread

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/topic/538b06ff-cdeb-4c73-ba93-ce4b6b9b05ed/these-companies-all-want-sun-synchronous-terminator-orbits-so-that-they-can-be-sunlit-all-the-time-.RSS for NodeMon, 24 Aug 2026 17:26:47 GMTWed, 05 Aug 2026 14:39:52 GMT60<![CDATA[Reply to These companies all want sun-synchronous terminator orbits, so that they can be sunlit all the time*. on Wed, 05 Aug 2026 16:30:29 GMT]]>@TeflonTrout @lauren @sundogplanets

Hmm, Kessler Sphere might also be another potential answer to the Fermi Paradox.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/Perrin42/statuses/117043850728179364https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/Perrin42/statuses/117043850728179364Wed, 05 Aug 2026 16:30:29 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to These companies all want sun-synchronous terminator orbits, so that they can be sunlit all the time*. on Wed, 05 Aug 2026 16:26:20 GMT]]>@TeflonTrout @lauren @sundogplanets

Dyson Sphere implies intent and usefulness.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/Perrin42/statuses/117043834426446589https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/Perrin42/statuses/117043834426446589Wed, 05 Aug 2026 16:26:20 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to These companies all want sun-synchronous terminator orbits, so that they can be sunlit all the time*. on Wed, 05 Aug 2026 16:25:50 GMT]]>@Perrin42 @lauren @sundogplanets

lol thanks I hate it

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://beige.party/users/TeflonTrout/statuses/117043832442137554https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://beige.party/users/TeflonTrout/statuses/117043832442137554Wed, 05 Aug 2026 16:25:50 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to These companies all want sun-synchronous terminator orbits, so that they can be sunlit all the time*. on Wed, 05 Aug 2026 16:22:11 GMT]]>@lauren @sundogplanets

Kessler Sphere?

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/Perrin42/statuses/117043818133679943https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/Perrin42/statuses/117043818133679943Wed, 05 Aug 2026 16:22:11 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to These companies all want sun-synchronous terminator orbits, so that they can be sunlit all the time*. on Wed, 05 Aug 2026 16:19:33 GMT]]>@sundogplanets With all the LOS, more like a mini-Dyson sphere.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.laurenweinstein.org/users/lauren/statuses/117043807744113396https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.laurenweinstein.org/users/lauren/statuses/117043807744113396Wed, 05 Aug 2026 16:19:33 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to These companies all want sun-synchronous terminator orbits, so that they can be sunlit all the time*. on Wed, 05 Aug 2026 16:09:05 GMT]]>@sundogplanets
WHOA ... do these gazillion of satellites at least filter out some sunlight and stop global warming?

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://metalhead.club/users/loewe/statuses/117043766601603080https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://metalhead.club/users/loewe/statuses/117043766601603080Wed, 05 Aug 2026 16:09:05 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to These companies all want sun-synchronous terminator orbits, so that they can be sunlit all the time*. on Wed, 05 Aug 2026 16:04:46 GMT]]>@sundogplanets Sam, I'd like you to know that you're my new spirit animal!

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/Eetschrijver/statuses/117043749613544719https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/Eetschrijver/statuses/117043749613544719Wed, 05 Aug 2026 16:04:46 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to These companies all want sun-synchronous terminator orbits, so that they can be sunlit all the time*. on Wed, 05 Aug 2026 15:55:04 GMT]]>@wikkit I thought about this as I've laid awake in the middle of the night. Would the rings cast shadows??? UGH. I should actually calculate that at some point...

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/sundogplanets/statuses/117043711461323602https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/sundogplanets/statuses/117043711461323602Wed, 05 Aug 2026 15:55:04 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to These companies all want sun-synchronous terminator orbits, so that they can be sunlit all the time*. on Wed, 05 Aug 2026 15:54:37 GMT]]>@sundogplanets they really took the Eye of Sauron as a challenge, huh

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://beige.party/users/rooster/statuses/117043709701435327https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://beige.party/users/rooster/statuses/117043709701435327Wed, 05 Aug 2026 15:54:37 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to These companies all want sun-synchronous terminator orbits, so that they can be sunlit all the time*. on Wed, 05 Aug 2026 15:53:10 GMT]]>@sundogplanets Really interesting renders. Have you calculated the total brightness? Like is it "oh there's a ridiculous quantity of star-like points" or "now the ground is lit like half moonlight all the time"?

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/wikkit/statuses/117043704024980875https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/wikkit/statuses/117043704024980875Wed, 05 Aug 2026 15:53:10 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to These companies all want sun-synchronous terminator orbits, so that they can be sunlit all the time*. on Wed, 05 Aug 2026 15:49:27 GMT]]>@sundogplanets
Arrrgh!

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.ie/users/raymaccarthy/statuses/117043689375295339https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.ie/users/raymaccarthy/statuses/117043689375295339Wed, 05 Aug 2026 15:49:27 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to These companies all want sun-synchronous terminator orbits, so that they can be sunlit all the time*. on Wed, 05 Aug 2026 15:42:19 GMT]]>@sundogplanets
Great and important work. But I'm not sure I would have used the same title. When reading about rings in the abstract, I noticed that I had immediately beautiful images of planets with rings in my mind. Even though I know that it will be horrible.
@hannorein

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/brunthal/statuses/117043661333511217https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/brunthal/statuses/117043661333511217Wed, 05 Aug 2026 15:42:19 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to These companies all want sun-synchronous terminator orbits, so that they can be sunlit all the time*. on Wed, 05 Aug 2026 15:37:21 GMT]]>@DavidM_yeg
Who'd have thunk Star Wars would take this shape?
@sundogplanets

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/Eetschrijver/statuses/117043641802444981https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/Eetschrijver/statuses/117043641802444981Wed, 05 Aug 2026 15:37:21 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to These companies all want sun-synchronous terminator orbits, so that they can be sunlit all the time*. on Wed, 05 Aug 2026 15:35:10 GMT]]>@sundogplanets

That was my thought… the glorious band of the Milky Way that most urbanites don’t even know they are missing anymore will be replaced by a bright, gaudy tech band that will shine through even the worst light pollution.😞

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://beige.party/users/DavidM_yeg/statuses/117043633198462697https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://beige.party/users/DavidM_yeg/statuses/117043633198462697Wed, 05 Aug 2026 15:35:10 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to These companies all want sun-synchronous terminator orbits, so that they can be sunlit all the time*. on Wed, 05 Aug 2026 15:33:14 GMT]]>@sundogplanets

Did Huey Lewis share the News?

The good news is, I've read various science fiction stories and settings affected by Kessler Syndrome, and they seem fun. Let me go review them. Wait... no... oh, no...

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/Perrin42/statuses/117043625619577237https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/Perrin42/statuses/117043625619577237Wed, 05 Aug 2026 15:33:14 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to These companies all want sun-synchronous terminator orbits, so that they can be sunlit all the time*. on Wed, 05 Aug 2026 15:33:13 GMT]]>@SteveBellovin Thanks!

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/sundogplanets/statuses/117043625562389167https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/sundogplanets/statuses/117043625562389167Wed, 05 Aug 2026 15:33:13 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to These companies all want sun-synchronous terminator orbits, so that they can be sunlit all the time*. on Wed, 05 Aug 2026 15:25:44 GMT]]>@sundogplanets I expect the disgusting megaconstellation CEOs will reply that of course it's all possible, and just trust them to know how and stop complaining.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://polyglot.city/users/Uilebheist/statuses/117043596101007848https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://polyglot.city/users/Uilebheist/statuses/117043596101007848Wed, 05 Aug 2026 15:25:44 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to These companies all want sun-synchronous terminator orbits, so that they can be sunlit all the time*. on Wed, 05 Aug 2026 15:25:30 GMT]]>@kigelia @hannorein Yes.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/sundogplanets/statuses/117043595236847210https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/sundogplanets/statuses/117043595236847210Wed, 05 Aug 2026 15:25:30 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to These companies all want sun-synchronous terminator orbits, so that they can be sunlit all the time*. on Wed, 05 Aug 2026 15:23:45 GMT]]>I'll end with my favourite sentence from our paper: "This new, anthropogenic sky feature would even be easily visible in a light-polluted city: the natural patterns of the star-filled night sky that have been a source of wonder and knowledge for all of human history will have been erased by urban light pollution and then replaced by human-made artificial patterns."

This is stupid. Stop launching satellites just because you can, techbros.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/sundogplanets/statuses/117043588304808295https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/sundogplanets/statuses/117043588304808295Wed, 05 Aug 2026 15:23:45 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to These companies all want sun-synchronous terminator orbits, so that they can be sunlit all the time*. on Wed, 05 Aug 2026 15:23:13 GMT]]>@sundogplanets Did you do the simulations for all of the constellations at once? Does the night sky remains even visible?

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://infosec.exchange/users/SamantazFox/statuses/117043586251708329https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://infosec.exchange/users/SamantazFox/statuses/117043586251708329Wed, 05 Aug 2026 15:23:13 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to These companies all want sun-synchronous terminator orbits, so that they can be sunlit all the time*. on Wed, 05 Aug 2026 15:22:19 GMT]]>Relatedly, Hugh Lewis just recently posted a paper showing that even by making the most conservative assumptions possible about size and orbits, and ignoring everything else that's already in orbit, all 3 of these proposed megaconstellations have so many satellites that they could cause Kessler Syndrome BY THEMSELVES https://arxiv.org/pdf/2607.29644

So, the good news is that we'll never have a ring like this. The bad news is, HELLOOOO Kessler Syndrome!

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/sundogplanets/statuses/117043582666418171https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/sundogplanets/statuses/117043582666418171Wed, 05 Aug 2026 15:22:19 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to These companies all want sun-synchronous terminator orbits, so that they can be sunlit all the time*. on Wed, 05 Aug 2026 15:18:05 GMT]]>And then there's SpaceX's freaking ridiculous million satellite filing. I had to reduce the frame rate for this animation because it made my computer (and me) sad. We called this the "overalls" configuration. Giant overalls, in the sky. Anytime the megaconstellation is sunlit, there are more satellites than stars visible in the sky.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/sundogplanets/statuses/117043566081748429https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/sundogplanets/statuses/117043566081748429Wed, 05 Aug 2026 15:18:05 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to These companies all want sun-synchronous terminator orbits, so that they can be sunlit all the time*. on Wed, 05 Aug 2026 15:16:22 GMT]]>@sundogplanets ah I see you mentioned it in the conclusion! Nice!

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://social.linux.pizza/users/Archivist/statuses/117043559292014881https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://social.linux.pizza/users/Archivist/statuses/117043559292014881Wed, 05 Aug 2026 15:16:22 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to These companies all want sun-synchronous terminator orbits, so that they can be sunlit all the time*. on Wed, 05 Aug 2026 15:14:38 GMT]]>From the far north (or far south), you'd see one of the rings continuously, all through the long winter night (which could be 24 hours of darkness and near-darkness). But the satellites will keep you company! Ugh. Gross. There would be more bright satellites than bright stars, all night long.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/sundogplanets/statuses/117043552497224373https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/sundogplanets/statuses/117043552497224373Wed, 05 Aug 2026 15:14:38 GMT