Mauna Kea after an exhaustive search for the darkest and best sites in the world. The reaction of the respective governments to the SPS will have to be considered. 2. The scattered light will have the spectrum of sunlight. Compensating for such a spectrally complex background will be more difficult than correcting for light scattered from incandescent street lamps. In comparison to low-pressure sodium and mercury vapor lamps, the situation is even worse. They emit much of the light in a few spectral lines, leaving the space in between relatively uncontaminated. The SPS light will contaminate the whole observable spectral range. The scattered light will be polarized and will vary with time because of varying concentrations of dust and aerosol in the atmosphere. 3. At certain times the specular reflection from the satellites could pose a danger to astronomers’ eyes and to instruments. While this possibility is remote, it will have to be guarded against and will require the installation of special TV camera systems at all telescope eyepieces. It is not clear how to protect amateur astronomers, sailors and general sky watchers who use telescopes or binoculars. 4. The string of satellites located along the equator will completely block out access to the Orion Nebula for optical and infrared telescopes in the U.S. As the closest large region of star formation, the Orion Nebula plays a key role in helping to clarify how stars and planetary systems are formed and the process by which material, after being incorporated into stars, is once again recycled into the interstellar medium. The SPS zone of avoidance will be invariant with time, permanently denying U.S. astronomers access to an important section of our galaxy, including parts of the galactic spiral arms just interior to our own. Studies which depend on completeness in order to develop a coherent picture of our own galaxy will no longer be possible.
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