The evening sky has been a supply of data and marvel because the daybreak of humankind - and it appears to be like virtually the identical now because it did then.
However the evening sky as we all know it's on the precipice of adjusting dramatically as a result of proliferation of satellites only a few hundred miles above Earth.
"For the primary time in human historical past, we're not going to have entry to the evening sky in the way in which that we have seen it," Samantha Lawler, an assistant professor of astronomy on the College of Regina in Canada, mentioned.
Professor Lawler has been watching from her farm in Saskatchewan, Canada, because the variety of lively satellites has multiplied from a couple of thousand in 2017 to greater than 5000 at present.
When CNN visited on a transparent night in March, it solely took a couple of minutes of trying up with the bare eye to see the primary of many satellites streaking throughout the sky.
"It is a lot worse than I anticipated," Professor Lawler instructed CNN.
"It is altering quick."
And it is about to get a lot worse.
Professor Lawler and two different Canadian astronomers revealed a paper in December in The Astronomical Journal which predicted that, in lower than a decade, 1 out of each 15 factors of sunshine within the evening sky will truly be a transferring satellite tv for pc.
"Take into consideration that," Professor Lawler mentioned.
"There's solely about 4000 stars that you would be able to see along with your bare eye and if 200 of these are transferring, that could be very totally different than the sky that we're used to now."
The satellites are much more disruptive when seen by a telescope, and so they're already contaminating photos of the cosmos captured by observatories all around the world.
Until one thing modifications dramatically when it comes to worldwide regulation of satellite tv for pc numbers, reflectivity and broadcasting, specialists like Professor Lawler consider that impression on astronomical analysis will intensify.
"It is form of like we're going by this transition (much like) when the primary automobiles have been on the roads. A Mannequin T would drive up the highway and also you'd run out to go have a look at it," Professor Lawler mentioned.
"However now you reside subsequent to an enormous freeway, stuffed with automobiles.
"In order that's form of the transition that we're going by with satellites within the evening sky proper now."
Mega-constellations' silver lining
It is the daybreak of mega-constellations, tens of hundreds of small satellites solely about 483 kilometres above Earth, launched by non-public firms to offer international high-speed web entry.
Elon Musk's SpaceX is accountable for roughly a 3rd of all lively satellites in orbit, greater than some other firm or nation, together with the US authorities.
SpaceX has already launched greater than 2000 satellites with plans to launch a minimum of 42,000 extra for its mega-constellation referred to as Starlink.
Different distant rivals embrace Amazon's Venture Kuiper and London-based satellite tv for pc firm OneWeb.
Whereas hundreds of small Starlink satellites are problematic for astronomers, they're additionally offering much-needed web entry to individuals in rural or war-torn components of the world.
Oleg Kutkov is a Ukrainian engineer and beginner astronomer who purchased a Starlink terminal on Ebay in December to take aside for enjoyable, by no means pondering he'd truly be capable to use it in his house in Kiev.
However when Russia invaded in February, Mr Musk activated Starlink service over Ukraine, and Mr Kutkov has been utilizing it as his backup web service ever since.
"We're getting all the knowledge from the web about airstrikes, about enemy pressure actions. Ought to we disguise, ought to we not disguise? Can we go exterior or not?" Mr Kutkov mentioned.
Mr Kutkov mentioned he used to facet with astronomers like Lawler in pondering that the issues about Starlink impeding observations of the cosmos outweighed its advantages, however Russia's invasion is altering his thoughts.
"I used to be 100% with astronomers," Mr Kutkov mentioned.
"However within the present scenario, after we actually need web connectivity, that is beginning to be extra essential."
A wrench in asteroid detection
For Mr Kutkov and different Ukrainians, Starlink is a lifesaver.
However NASA is anxious that second-generation Starlink, which may start launching as quickly as this month, may sometime contribute to ending life on Earth as we all know it.
NASA makes use of ground-based telescopes to hunt for doubtlessly killer asteroids. In a letter to the FCC in February, NASA acknowledged it "estimates that there could be a Starlink in each single asteroid survey picture," which may have "a detrimental impact on our planet's skill to detect and presumably redirect a doubtlessly catastrophic impression."
Hubble pictures present 'intense and violent' formation of gigantic planet
"Discovering these asteroids properly prematurely of once they may hit the Earth is vitally essential to our species' survival," Professor Lawler mentioned.
SpaceX didn't reply to requests for a remark for this story, however the firm addressed astronomers' issues about satellites impacting observations in a press release in April 2020.
"We firmly consider within the significance of a pure evening sky for all of us to get pleasure from, which is why we've been working with main astronomers all over the world," the assertion reads, and SpaceX has made modifications by "including a deployable visor to the satellite tv for pc to dam daylight from hitting the brightest components of the spacecraft."
However astronomers akin to Professor Lawler say these modifications are usually not sufficient.
As of now, there are not any binding worldwide guidelines monitoring mega-constellations, and SpaceX is not ready for regulators to catch up.
It is launching, on common, about 50 new Starlink satellites each week.
"We're already seeing so many satellites now," Professor Lawler mentioned.
"And there is about to be 10 occasions as many."