## 4 How Is the Practice of Astronomy Impacted by Increased Satellite Numbers? Attempts to preserve the 'right to dark skies' is a cause that has unified both professional astronomers and Indigenous Peoples in recent times based on the fact that astronomy is essentially impossible to practice in certain areas due to the light pollution from large cities and urban areas ([PERSON], 2009, p. 14). However, the preservation of the night sky for the purpose of astronomy is no longer threatened just by Earth. As [PERSON] et al. succinctly describe, \"[t]he proliferation of Low Earth orbit satellites (LEOsats) at altitudes less than 2000 km threatens our millennia-old ability to observe, discover and analyse the cosmos from the surface of the Earth\" ([PERSON] et al., 2020, p. 1043), alluding to the impact and interference that satellites are posing to the practice of astronomy. While the extent of the impact that the proposed mega-constellations will have is not yet fully known, the potential has already been experienced, as noted by [PERSON], when \"the first mass launch of 60 Starlink satellites on 23 May 2019 caught astronomers flat-footed, as astronomical photos revealed streaks from the satellites, covering the sky with light pollution\" ([PERSON], 2021). The International Astronomical Union (hereinafter the IAU) expressed its concern regarding the effects of planned satellite constellations in a statement in 2019, which emphasised the IAU's general stance in favour of the maintenance of dark skies and concern that \"[w]e do not yet understand the impact of thousands of these visible satellites scattered across the night sky\" (International Astronomical Union, 2019). This concern was further emphasised in the IAU's Report on Dark and Quiet Skies, which was presented in February 2022 at the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee of UNCOPUOS (International Astronomical Union, 2022).9  
Footnote 9: International Astronomical Union (2022). This report was compiled from working group reports composed at a conference co-organised by UNOOSA in October 2021 and recognized the significance of the maintenance of dark skies for astronomical practices in general, but also for indigenous astronomy. Those practising astronomy in purpose-built institutions with it noted that many of these \"institutions and facilities were built on the traditional lands of Indigenous peoples\" ([PERSON] et al., 2020, p. 1043) have experienced this light pollution as damaging at certain times for capturing images from their observatories. [PERSON] et al. detail this interference as follows:  
\"When a satellite reflecting sunlight passes through the field of view of a telescope, it leaves a characteristic streak of light in images. Software tools to some extent mitigate this contaminant, smoothing out the data to make a cosmetic improvement to the final result. However, the data behind the streak is simply lost, at least in a single frame, although astronomers can stack a succession of images to compensate for that\" ([PERSON] et al., 2020, p. 1022). While this streak of light across images from telescopes caused by satellites reflecting sunlight could be argued as being an 'inconvenience' to the professional practice, it is important to note that this lost data and need for software editing of images will become increasingly frequent occurrences proportionate to the increased number of satellites as they are launched. As noted by [PERSON] et al., \"[t]he deployment of the Starlink constellation would triple the number of satellites in orbit by itself, and it is only one of many large constellations currently planned\" ([PERSON] et al., 2020, p. 1014). Thus, satellite constellations would result in more telescope images being interrupted by streaks of light, which has the effect of more data from behind that streak of light being lost, but also more time being spent using software tools to preserve what is left of the telescope images.