There are more than 12,000 active satellites circling Earth at the moment, a growing figure that has nearly doubled in less than three years. This recent boom in the satellite industry has been a major headache for astronomers, with bright satellites appearing as streaks in telescope images of the universe and tarnishing views of the night skies.

A new paper reveals that satellite constellations are brighter than the recommended limits set forth by astronomers, with only one company adhering to the guidelines. The paper , appearing in the preprint server arXiv, compares the observed brightness magnitudes of satellite constellations in Earth orbit with brightness limits established by the International Astronomical Union’s (IAU) Center for the Protection of the Dark and Quiet Sky (CPS)

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