Is the night sky part of our natural environment? Some astronomers say yes, and are trying to preserve it

Astronomer Samantha Lawler walked out of her farmhouse in Edenwold, about 30 kilometres northeast of Regina, her feet crunching on the snow below, the cacophony of ducks and chickens emanating from her barn.

It was early morning, before sunrise, and the stars were still draped across the sky.

She glanced up on her short walk and noticed the slow movement of light among the stars. Then another. And another. She eventually stopped counting.

Lawler knew all too well what those faux-stars were: satellites.

"I wasn't even staring at the sky. I was just looking and walking between buildings and I saw a dozen in like a minute of looking up," she said. "I mean, it's really bad. It's quite noticeable."

And it's about to get a lot worse.

Astronomers around the world are concerned about a handful of commercial companies — chiefly SpaceX — proposing to flood low-Earth orbit with tens of thousands of these satellites, with the potential to far exceed that. There's also the risk of satellites crashing into one another and adding to the thousands of pieces of space junk already in orbit.

All this, astronomers say, is a threat to the preservation of our night sky.

As a result, on Feb. 3, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) announced the formation of the Center for the Protection of the Dark and Quiet Sky from Satellite Constellation Interference. Their goal is clear: to work with industry leaders, amateur astronomers, Indigenous groups and scientists around the world to protect the sanctity of the night sky.

So far, there has been little to no disagreement between astronomers and industry leaders.

"The experience we've had in interacting with industry is that they've been exceedingly co-operative in trying to deal with their individual objects and how much light they scatter," said Richard L. Green, an astronomer at the University of Arizona who is part of the executive committee working group on the protection of the skies.

But that could change.

"There's always a caveat, because [industry] can only do so much," said Connie Walker, co-director of the new centre, and an astronomer with the National Science Foundation's National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory (NOIRLab). 

"They're there to turn a profit. But I do think we have their ear, especially at this point in time. And I do think there is authentic good will, in trying to do as much as they can. But that has limits."