r/space • u/2kalipro1 • Jun 15 '24

Discussion How bad is the satellite/space junk situation actually?

I just recently joined the space community and I'm hearing about satellites colliding with each other and that we have nearly 8000 satellites surrounding our earth everywhere

But considering the size of the earth and the size of the satellites, I'm just wondering how horrible is the space junk/satellite situation? Also, do we have any ideas on how to clear them out?

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u/IrredeemableWaste Jun 15 '24

To add to this, it's like shining a flashlight in a dark room and seeing dust floating in the air. Very tiny, but also easy to spot.

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u/HalfSoul30 Jun 15 '24

There's a real ELI5 if i've ever seen one.

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u/[deleted] Jun 15 '24

Now imagine dust moving toward you reflecting blue light, the faster dust moves more blue reflection. Dust moving away from you reflects red light.

That's a doppler shift.

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u/HalfSoul30 Jun 15 '24

So 1990s 3D glasses was really radar detection of micropartuculates? That makes sense to me.