Over the past year, SpaceX has been launching hundreds of small broadband internet-beaming satellites into low-Earth orbit as part of its Starlink constellation. The tally as of June: 540.

While the promise of reliable and fast satellite internet accessible from pretty much anywhere in the world sounds pretty promising, not everybody is happy. As it turns out, the tiny satellites are way brighter than anybody was expecting and thats bad news for astronomers.

Over the last couple of months, countless reports have emerged of frustrated astronomers having their observations ruined by Starlink satellites appearing as bright streaks of light.

In the latest instance, images taken of the spectacular NEOWISE comet by astrophotographer Daniel Lopez were completely photobombed by Elon Musks Starlink satellites, as Space Telescope Science Institute astronomer Julien Girard pointed out in a tweet.

If there are lots and lots of bright moving objects in the sky, it tremendously complicates our job, Smith College astronomer James Lowenthal told The New York Times last November. It potentially threatens the science of astronomy itself.

Theyre so bright, in fact, that some are visible to the naked eye. In fact, onlookers keep mistaking them for UFOs, according to news reports from December.

The brightness is due in part to the fact that the Starlink satellites are orbiting Earth at much closer distance than most an operational altitude of roughly 550 kilometers, rather than the usual medium-Earth orbit (at 20,000 km) or geostationary orbit (at 36,000 km) used by other kinds of satellites, like those that provide GPS and communication services.

SpaceX has also claimed that theyre bright early on because theyre still climbing in orbit after launch, and will eventually spread out and become dimmer over a period of several months.

Luckily, SpaceX claims its working on a number of solutions.

Early attempts to paint the underside of each satellite with an anti-reflective coat of paint seem to have only been partially successful.

SpaceX is now trying out a new method: launching satellites with a cool pair of sunglasses. The space company is planning to mount retractable sunshades,called VisorSat, to each of the satellites to block sunlight from hitting its reflective parts the main reason theyre so bright SpaceNews reported in May.

The companys latest batch of Starlink satellites,which launched back in June, included a just single unit with such a sunshade. Its still unclear if the solution will appease astronomers.

SpaceXs most recent Starlink launch, 57 satellites each equipped with a VisorSat sunshade, had to be delayed due to weather earlier this month. The launch is now planned for July 29.

If no solution is found, astronomers could be struggling with bright Starlink satellites ruining their observations for many years to come. SpaceX already has permission from the Federal Communications Commission to launch tens of thousands of Starlink satellites to bring global internet coverage to the world.

More on Starlink: SpaceX Is Now Taking Requests for Starlink Beta Testers

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SpaceX's Starlink Satellites Ruined This Photo of the NEOWISE Comet - Futurism