Surging satellite numbers threaten to dazzle even space telescopes

One of the reasons astronomers like to put telescopes in space is that the “seeing” is better. With no turbulent atmosphere in the way the stars shine steadily, rather than twinkling as they do when seen from the ground. PREMIUM Representational image. (Representative image) But it is not just an atmosphere that can ruin the seeing. The rapidly growing number of satellites in low-Earth orbit is already causing problems for ground-based telescopes, which find their images contaminated