Speakers include:
Dr Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and editor of Jonathan’s Space Report, an internet newsletter which provides technical details of satellite launches. A staff member of the Chandra X-ray Center, he studies black holes, quasars and X-ray sources in galaxies.
Dr Robert Massey, Deputy Executive Director & Press Officer at the Royal Astronomical Society, which organised a meeting between satellite operators and the astronomical community, to share the concerns of scientists, and to work on mitigation of the problem.
Dr Meredith Rawls, Research Scientist in the Department of Astronomy at the University of Washington who works with the Vera C. Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) group, one of the observatories that could be affected by mega satellite constellations.
Nik Szymanek, Astronomy Now’s astro-imaging expert, will discuss how amateur astronomers can prevent the streaks of light from mega satellite constellations blighting their images.
Running time: 2hrs
Astronomy Now’s AstroFest conference goes worldwide this year. Since 1992 amateur and professional astronomers have converged on London to hear about the latest discoveries in astronomy and space exploration. In 2021, the event is blasting off into cyberspace until we’re able to meet again in person.