Dr. John Barentine FRAS

Astronomer. Historian. Author. Space environmentalist. Small business owner. Arizona native. Proud LGBT American. 🏳️‍🌈 Retiring to asteroid 14505. Questioning everything; occasionally getting in trouble for it. Toots about #Astronomy, #LightPollution, #DarkSkies, #Satellites, #SciencePolicy, #History and more.

Public Key

npub1enyujzraaaxpd3qtfdcwuat6tkeh5sps4tyy83pqn96fasxp4hfs695t5g

NIP-05 Address

JohnBarentine@scicomm-xyz.mostr.pub

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nprofile1qqsvejwfpp777nqkcs95ku8ww4a9mvm6gqc24jzrcssfjay7crq6m5cpz4mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerfw36x7tnsw43qzynhwden5te0wdskcarfwe4kztn0wfnsmdcz2v

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relay.ditto.pub

saltivka.org

nostr-pub.wellorder.net

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Last Notes

2026-08-02 20:06:04 UTC

"Our measurements reveal an average brightness seven times brighter than mitigation targets cited in FCC filings and peak values over 200 times brighter than the International Astronomical Union’s recommended threshold (V magnitude 7). Now, AST SpaceMobile is expected to deploy over 200 Block 2 satellites that are each three times larger (199 m2) which would be three times brighter than Block 1 (all else being equal), and regulations have not changed."
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1538-3873/ae8333/
#Space #Satellites #Astronomy #SpacePolicy

2026-07-30 22:13:51 UTC

"'They're saying we want to launch 50,000 mirrors by 2035,' Benvenuti said. 'That would be catastrophic for astronomy, that is clear.'"
https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/reflect-orbital-approval-fcc-9.7287535
#Astronomy #ReflectOrbital #SunlightAsAService #FCC #SpacePolicy

2026-07-13 22:52:39 UTC

This is bad news for two aspiring International Dark Sky Places in some of the darkest territory in the Lower 48 U.S. states: https://apnews.com/article/trump-bears-ears-grand-staircase-escalante-69f14749f13a7ac6fb6ee07ce4cd84bf
This stunt was also tried in the first Trump Administration. It was sued by NRDC, and the action expired with the first term. https://www.nrdc.org/court-battles/nrdc-et-v-trump-bears-ears
It should expect the same this time, and environmental orgs are again ready to wait him out.
#DarkSkies #Conservation #Utah

2026-07-13 17:50:16 UTC

The American Astronomical Society has issued a public statement about the FCC’s approval of the Reflect Orbital license application to operate a prototype solar reflector satellite: https://aas.org/press/aas-public-policy-experts-available-comment-fcc-approval-reflect-orbitals-earendil-1-mission
#Space #Satellites
https://media.scicomm.xyz/media_attachments/files/116/913/926/045/129/369/original/aade10776e9fac2e.png

2026-07-02 05:46:16 UTC

"If it's agreed by the FCC, this will be deeply regrettable. This will say that we are in a world where large corporations can determine the view of the sky above our heads, just as they can transform the environment on Earth."
https://www.space.com/astronomy/the-growing-number-of-satellites-in-orbit-could-soon-make-telescopes-obsolete-for-astronomy-this-would-obviously-be-catastrophic
#Space #Satellites #Astronomy

2026-06-11 19:12:26 UTC

- reply

@nprofile…mk4g It's baby steps, absolutely. It's only a transparency and reporting measure and not regulatory. It would require disclosure of light pollution impacts, but not limit or mitigate them. That said, I think it's an important sign that light pollution is somewhere on the federal policy agenda, even if this particular bill will probably go nowhere in the current political climate. For those of us playing the long game with light pollution legislation, this is just one stop along the road.

2026-06-11 15:43:23 UTC

The AI Environmental Impacts Act, introduced by Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.), specifically calls out light pollution as a concern tied to the build-out of AI-related infrastructure in the U.S.
More info in Rep. Beyer's press release: https://beyer.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=9143
#DarkSkies
https://media.scicomm.xyz/media_attachments/files/116/732/237/199/391/794/original/7e9fd08f5dfccbb3.png

2026-06-11 05:05:33 UTC

- reply

@nprofile…mk4g Good questions! Yes, I took that image with my phone. Actually, it is a series of about half a dozen, still images taken with my phone that I added together in software. Individually, the images are kind of noisy because the light levels are low. But when they are added together, the noise is a lot less. I overlaid the labels using GIMP (an open-source image editing program). Unfortunately, it was not an automated process. I had to draw the constellation lines in by hand, then add the labels. For a little bit of effort, it took, I think the result was pretty nice.

2026-06-10 20:47:17 UTC

Close conjunction of planets last night (9th June), with labels. #astronomy
https://media.scicomm.xyz/media_attachments/files/116/727/770/428/331/348/original/0a4ff4eae1b49591.png

2026-05-11 22:47:11 UTC

Pope Leo XIV today lamented light pollution, telling Vatican Observatory Foundation Board members "we have filled our skies with man-made light that blinds us to the lights God has placed there", evoking the words of his immediate predecessor.
Transcript: https://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiv/en/speeches/2026/may/documents/20260511-vof.html
News item: https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2026-05/pope-leo-xiv-vatican-observatory-foundation-science-faith.html
#Astronomy #Pope #Faith #DarkSkies
https://media.scicomm.xyz/media_attachments/files/116/558/366/555/470/483/original/3dbc62e21eb007cf.png
https://media.scicomm.xyz/media_attachments/files/116/558/374/709/293/710/original/f1d28d967e512f69.png

2026-04-30 19:21:08 UTC

Is the Outer Space Treaty becoming a "League of Nations" for the cosmos?
In a new Opinion piece for Frontiers, we argue that existing space governance isn't fit for the era of private satellite megaconstellations. To protect our shared heritage, we need a shift toward "Space Environmentalism."
We still have the chance to build a future by design rather than by default—if we act before these norms are set in stone.
Read more: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/space-technologies/articles/10.3389/frspt.2026.1748406/full
#SpacePolicy #Astronomy #SciencePolicy #SpaceEnvironmentalism

2026-04-27 16:06:38 UTC

"We conclude that satellites will be unavoidable during Square Kilometre Array observing conditions, risking a strong impact on the radiofrequency interference environment."
https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.22694
#Satellites #Astronomy #RadioAstronomy
https://media.scicomm.xyz/media_attachments/files/116/477/524/256/876/965/original/06f16613d8d2af72.png

2026-04-01 16:57:09 UTC

The global dark-sky movement has hit a hardware ceiling. Shielding works, but it doesn't control how much light we generate. Adaptive lighting is an underutilized means of reducing light pollution. Can #AI encourage its uptake?
The "#LED Paradox" explains why cheap energy efficiency has led to over-illumination. We need to shift from hardware solutions to software and behavioral solutions. AI-driven predictive grids might finally remove the friction from adaptive lighting management.
Read more: https://www.darkskyconsulting.com/blog/ai-and-the-future-of-smart-lighting
#LightPollution #DarkSkies #SmartLighting

2026-03-26 18:13:59 UTC

Nature Astronomy editorial: "With threats to #astronomy from all directions, we must consider the true value of astronomy. Astronomy educates the public; astronomy trains a data- and technology-centred workforce; astronomy supports other sciences, providing a laboratory to physicists and a chance to investigate other worlds to biologists and geologists; astronomy inspires curiosity and art and interest in science; astronomy involves big projects; astronomy gets people out into nature; astronomy is an international field, with global collegiality; astronomy adds to the repository of human knowledge. These are the aspects of astronomy that we should be regularly reminding our elected representatives about."
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-026-02830-9

2026-03-07 20:35:27 UTC

"Despite the vast scale of the issue of light pollution, long-term research and widespread knowledge is lacking. I would therefore like to call on all readers to spread awareness about light pollution and related environmental issues that impact communities today. By taking collective action, society can work towards the transformation of the Anthropocene, into a posthumanist era where humans and nature collaborate to build homes in an entangled web of sacred mutualism. We could then create a sustainable world where environmental and animal rights become equal to human ones. This shift in thought may ultimately lead to a shift in action. So we might finally see the sky again."
https://www.diggitmagazine.com/light-pollution-anthropocene-environmental-cost-illumination
#Environment #LightPollution #Nature #RightsOfNature

2026-03-03 20:51:59 UTC

This morning's total #LunarEclipse as seen from Tucson, Arizona, in a three-image sequence.
https://media.scicomm.xyz/media_attachments/files/116/167/217/013/507/533/original/e9b8117c26501195.png

2026-02-25 15:47:13 UTC

"A recent @nprofile…nqs0 opinion article argued that it is time to 'take astronomy off Earth.' The suggestion is straightforward: If satellite constellations and commercial space activity threaten ground-based astronomy, perhaps astronomers should simply move their work into space.
"As current, incoming and past presidents of the American Astronomical Society, we feel impelled to respond. ... We share the concern that motivates the recent commentary: We must protect our ability to observe the cosmos we are part of. But the idea that astronomy can simply relocate off Earth misunderstands how modern #astronomy works and sidesteps deeper questions about how companies are choosing to operate in #space."
https://spacenews.com/the-future-of-astronomy-is-both-on-earth-and-in-space/

2025-07-06 17:50:29 UTC

Because the answer is never 'consume less': "Astronomical interference is not as important a problem as climate change, or plastic in the sea, or the loss of biodiversity, but the root cause is the same—uncontrolled growth and displacement of the true costs. Why do we need twice as many #satellites every year and a half? It's asking for trouble in so many ways."
https://www.science.org/doi/full/10.1126/science.ady9838
#Space #SpacePolicy #Commentary

2025-07-02 04:30:03 UTC

"Brightness statistics for #satellites of the #Starlink, #BlueBird, #Qianfan, #Guowang and #OneWeb constellations are reported. Nearly all these #spacecraft exceed the magnitude 7+ brightness limit pertaining to interference with professional #research. Most also exceed the magnitude 6 reference where they distract from aesthetic appreciation of the night sky."
https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.00107
https://media.scicomm.xyz/media_attachments/files/114/781/753/019/817/169/original/8e25bab6499e22e9.png