低轨卫星污染

Footnotes: our science correspondent on dark skies

脚注：夜空下的科普作家

Brighter skies might cast a long shadow.

明亮的天空可能会投下长长的阴影。

This week Alok Jha—one of our science writers—considered the problems associated with having too many satellites in orbit.

本周，科普作家Alok Jha提出了与轨道卫星过多相关的问题。

They threaten to transform the appearance of the night sky and hinder the practise of astronomy.

这些卫星恐将改变夜空样貌，并且妨碍天文学实践。

Dark skies are essential for astronomical observations.

对天文观测而言，黑夜非常重要。

The naked eye might not see satellites clearly, but when one passes through the view of a sensitive telescope, it leaves a streak of light that erases all data behind it.

裸眼可能看不清卫星，但当一颗卫星穿过灵敏望远镜的视野时，会留下一道光，抹掉它后面的所有数据。

As this paper in the Astrophysical Journal Letters explains, huge clusters of sunlight-reflecting satellites (known as mega-constellations) could have dire consequences for those trying to study celestial objects from the ground.

发表于《天文物理杂志快报》的这篇论文解释道，反射太阳光的大型卫星群（众所周知的巨型卫星星座）会对那些试图从地面研究天体的科学家们造成严重影响。

In the next decade, up to 100,000 of these satellite constellations could be launched into low-Earth orbit.

未来10年，将发射10万多颗低轨卫星星座。

These reports by the ESO, an intergovernmental research organisation, and Nature Astronomy, a journal, provide detailed overviews of the potential impact of mega-constellations.

政府间研究组织欧洲南方天文台（ESO,The European Southern Observatory）和《自然天文学》杂志的报告都详述了巨型卫星星座的潜在影响。

While space is huge, low-orbit Earth is finite.

虽然宇宙空间很大，但低轨道是有限的。

The rapid increase in satellite population would, bluntly, crowd low-Earth orbit with pollution.

坦率来说，卫星数量的剧增将会污染低轨道。

Satellites eventually lose function and the material from them will re-enter Earth’s atmosphere.

卫星最终会失效，它们的残骸将再次进入地球大气层。

This article in Scientific Reports, a journal, addresses the environmental impact.

《科学报告》期刊的这篇文章讨论了卫星带来的环境影响。

Follow Alok on Twitter for more.

关注Alok的推特了解更多信息。

文中提到的巨型卫星星座指的就是马斯克的星链计划。此前，我觉得这是一项伟大的工程，没有想过负面影响。希望随着科技进步，卫星污染可以得到有效解决。

cast a long shadow 投下长长的阴影

threaten to 恐将

hinder 阻碍

astronomical observation 天文观测

naked eye 裸眼

a streak of light 一道光

mega-constellations 巨型卫星星座

have dire consequences 造成严重影响

celestial object 天体

low-Earth orbit 低轨道

finite 有限的

bluntly 坦率来说

lose function 失效

2021年11月29日星期一，天气阴。

明日预告：

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