If you see the light of the stars in outer space lately, it could be that what you are witnessing is not really a star but another object. What's wrong?
The star-shaped object moving in the sky may be a spacecraft or satellite. More and more of them are being flown, so it can be said that their presence has been polluting the view into the sky.
Mainly the culprit is the Starlink satellites that SpaceX keeps launching and the number continues to grow. Starlink will be used to broadcast internet services from up there as a part of Elon Musk's company's business.
Samantha Lawler, assistant professor of astronomy at the University of Regina, said that about 1 in 15 rays in space are satellites and not stars. This has the potential to disrupt research scientists because of confusion.
"This will undermine astronomical research and will completely change the night sky around the world," he said.
While Starlink and its competitors do present the benefits of providing internet access to many areas of the world, it is necessary to enforce rules to minimize visible satellites in space.
"We cannot accept the global loss of access to space, which we humans have seen for so long," he wrote in his research.
So far, there is no sign that concrete action will be taken to address the disturbance. But hopefully things can be arranged soon so that the sky becomes clearer and what people see are actually stars, not man-made objects.