A manmade object now outshines nearly every star in the night sky and that could be a problem, astronomers say

• The Bluewalker 3 satellite now outshines nearly every star in the night sky.
• The object's brightness could impede the study of the skies, according to a group of astronomers.

A new satellite now outshines nearly every star in the night sky. With more such objects due to be launched soon, the night sky could be irreversibly changed, scientists warn.

This finding was part of a study published on Monday in the journal Nature.

According to the report, a group of astronomers found that the newly launched Bluewalker 3 satellite now outshines every celestial body in the night sky other than seven stars, the Moon, Jupiter, and Venus.

The study's authors — who observed Bluewalker 3 for 130 days — wrote that large constellations of bright and artificial satellites in low Earth orbit could impede the study of the skies.

The Bluewalker 3 satellite was launched in September last year by telecommunications company AST SpaceMobile — in collaboration with Vodafone, AT&T, and Nokia — and enables 5G connectivity between phones without the use of a cell tower.

Patrick Seitzer, an emeritus astronomer at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, told Nature that if more companies were to launch fleets of large satellites like AST SpaceMobile, "then the night sky will be irreversibly changed."

That's because the Bluewalker 3 satellite can be hundreds of times brighter than the maximum recommended level by the International Astronomical Union, a professional body of astronomers.

"These results demonstrate a continuing trend towards larger, brighter commercial satellites, which is of particular concern given the plans to launch many more in the coming years," wrote Siegfried Eggl, one of the study's co-authors and an assistant professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, in a separate report.

AST SpaceMobile told Nature that it was working with NASA and astronomy groups to address the concerns raised in the study.

However, this isn't the first time scientists have sounded the alarm over satellites interfering with the study of space.

In March, scientists wrote in a series of articles for Nature that large fleets of satellites like the ones utilized by Elon Musk's SpaceX should be regulated to safeguard our ability to study the skies.

It's a long-running concern that dates back to 2019 when some scientists called attention to Starlink satellites having the potential to blot out the stars.

AST SpaceMobile and the study's authors did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment, sent outside regular business hours.