NASA Ames study finds 73 percent of SPHEREx space telescope images already marred by satellite trails
Even orbiting telescopes can no longer escape satellite light pollution. A NASA Ames study found 73.3% of images from NASA's SPHEREx telescope, taken last May to September, already carry at least one satellite trail, about 2.18 per frame. Models reach 100% if planned launches pro
The view from above the atmosphere is no longer clear. Researchers at NASA's Ames Research Center have found that 73.3% of images collected by the SPHEREx space telescope between last May and September were contaminated by at least one artificial satellite trail, with an average of 2.18 trails per frame. SPHEREx was built to map the entire sky in near-infrared light, which means long exposures across wide swaths of sky, exactly the conditions that invite passing satellites into the frame. The trails leave what the authors call 'railroad track' artifacts: the bright center is scrubbed out, but parallel lines remain etched into the science image, and the photometric data of anything beneath them is lost. The study also ran the numbers forward. If the satellite launches now planned are approved and completed, its simulations project that 100% of SPHEREx images would carry a trail, with an average of 189 trails per frame. The paper was posted to arXiv and reported by phys.org and Universe Today. Sources: arXiv (2605.27501), phys.org, Universe Today.