<story><title>Starlink satellites are &apos;leaking&apos; signals that interfere with radio telescopes</title><url>https://theconversation.com/starlink-satellites-are-leaking-signals-that-interfere-with-our-most-sensitive-radio-telescopes-215250</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>sbierwagen</author><text>&amp;gt;Now it is commonplace: sit outside for a few minutes after dark, and you can’t miss them.&lt;p&gt;As always, this is only the case immediately after sunset, when it&amp;#x27;s dark on the ground but the satellites are still in direct sunlight. Fifteen minutes later they&amp;#x27;re completely invisible.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>ortusdux</author><text>This is a key misconception.  Their SOP is to put the newest batch into an ultra-low orbit for testing.  Any that fail should passively deorbit in a few months due to the increased atmospheric density.  To minimize drag during this process, they deploy the solar panels parallel to the ground.   Once testing is over, the panels reorient to hide behind the darkened satellite body, and then the satellites use their internal ion thrusters to boost to their final operational orbit.  The dawn and dusk flaring people see are these early satellites with horizontal reflective solar panels.</text></comment>
<story><title>Starlink satellites are &apos;leaking&apos; signals that interfere with radio telescopes</title><url>https://theconversation.com/starlink-satellites-are-leaking-signals-that-interfere-with-our-most-sensitive-radio-telescopes-215250</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>sbierwagen</author><text>&amp;gt;Now it is commonplace: sit outside for a few minutes after dark, and you can’t miss them.&lt;p&gt;As always, this is only the case immediately after sunset, when it&amp;#x27;s dark on the ground but the satellites are still in direct sunlight. Fifteen minutes later they&amp;#x27;re completely invisible.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>MalcolmDwyer</author><text>The cutoff is nowhere near that soon after sunset. At midnight? Sure, you&amp;#x27;re not going to see satellites. But against a dark sky, you can see satellites reflecting for at least a couple hours. They may not be in direct sunlight as it gets later, but they are still illuminated by the atmosphere on the sunny side for a while.</text></comment>