Dopo SpaceX, arrivano i cinesi a illuminare il cielo notturno. I satelliti Qianfan - i primi in orbita di una costellazione che dovrebbe contarne 14mila - sarebbero anche più luminosi degli Starlink.
The first satellites of a Chinese broadband constellation are significantly brighter than those of Western systems, posing a new challenge for astronomers. […]
The study found that the brightness of the satellites ranges from magnitude 8 when low in the sky to magnitude 4 when nearly overhead. That makes the satellites, at those higher elevations, bright enough to be seen by the naked eye — which can see objects down to magnitude 6 in dark skies — and well above the threshold of magnitude 7 recommended by professional astronomers it mitigate interference with major groundbased observatories.
La notizia su SpaceNews, già segnalata qui da @Vespiacic.
Il paper: