Light pollution from satellites: what’s coming and what astronomy research will be compromised

Satellite companies are planning to launch hundreds of thousands of satellites into Low Earth Orbit in the next decade. Based on the measured brightness of Starlink satellites in orbit and the planned orbital shells of four megaconstellations that have begun operations, we can estimate the data losses that will be caused by satellites in astronomy research images. I’ll talk about how the distribution of bright satellites in the night sky will change over the course of the seasons and for different latitudes on Earth. I’ll also give examples of satellite streaks and their effects on detections and orbital measurements in two Trans-Neptunian Object surveys (CLASSY and LiDO), both using the wide-field Megacam camera on the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope.