Space infrastructure destroys Indigenous practices

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 (Ruggles 2009, p. 14). However, the preservation of the night sky for the purpose of astronomy is no longer threatened just by Earth. As Venkatesan 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” (Venkatesan 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 Hecht, 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” (Hecht 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

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” (Venkatesan et al. 2020, p. 1043) have experienced this light pollution as damaging at certain times for capturing images from their observatories. Massey 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”.

(Massey 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 Levchenko 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” (Levchenko 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. These interferences arguably impact the practice of astronomy by making the capturing of telescope images of the sky more difficult, tedious, and time-consuming.

The information being lost behind these streaks of light was also highlighted as having a concerning impact on important astronomical research projects, as outlined in the SATCON1Report (American Astronomical Society 2020)10 as follows:

“Many astronomical investigations collect data with the requirement of observing any part of the sky needed to achieve the research objective with uniform quality over the field of view. These include studies that are among the highest priorities in the discipline: stellar populations in the Milky Way and neighbouring galaxies; searches for potentially hazardous near-Earth objects; identification of gravitational wave sources such as neutron star mergers; and wide-area searches for transiting exoplanets”.

(American Astronomical Society 2020, p. 3)

Thus, streaks of light from satellites reflecting sunlight interrupt the consistency of the quality of these important observations. Furthermore, these streaks of light could prevent the detection of “a time-critical aspect and/or a rare, scientifically critical target” (American Astronomical Society 2020, p. 3), which, if this were to occur, would undermine the aims of these astronomical projects.

Astronomical observations and images being interrupted by satellites reflecting sunlight impact the practice of astronomy by requiring additional software to fix astronomical images, affecting the quality of observation research projects or even preventing the detection of one-off space events. Therefore, the impact experienced by professional astronomers is considerable, but the impact is arguably more acute for the Indigenous Peoples, to whom the practice of astronomy is integral.

5. Indigenous Astronomy

The use of the term ‘Indigenous Astronomy’ in this article is intended to also extend to Indigenous cosmologies—the terminology does not intend to limit Indigenous knowledge and practice to constricted Western notions. Ruggles emphasises that this is a comprehension divide that must be overcome in order to have proper understanding and facilitate an inclusive dialogue (Ruggles 2009, p. 6), such as the one envisaged and suggested in Section 7. Thus, the use of the term ‘Indigenous Astronomy’ is intended to encapsulate all of the diverse relations and interconnections of all Indigenous Peoples with the sky, universe, and celestial bodies therein.

While the practice of astronomy can be generally defined as the observation of the skies and everything contained therein, there is no one definition to encapsulate what Indigenous astronomy means to all Indigenous Peoples, but it is emphasised by Bhathal that Indigenous astronomy “is not based on the hypothetico-deductive system that physicists and astronomers use and validate by observation and experiment; rather it is a knowledge system based on other knowledge traditions” (Bhathal 2006, p. 27). Thus, while Indigenous astronomy pertains to the observation of the sky, stars, constellations and planets, this practice is carried out for reasons assigned by the aforementioned Indigenous cosmologies. Nevertheless, as was evident from the ‘Dark and Quiet Skies 2022′ report mentioned in Section 4, consultation occurs between modern astronomers and Indigenous astronomers regarding the night sky and as noted by Hollabaugh, “[m]odern astronomy and Native views tolerate each other because they each seek to understand the heavens, albeit from very different perspectives and by asking very different questions” (Hollabaugh 2017, p. 178).

The reasoning behind Indigenous astronomical practices, while distinct to each Indigenous People and also having practical roles in the functioning of Indigenous societies, as will be outlined in the sub-section examples below, is linked to the Indigenous cosmologies of a people. Drahos describes an Indigenous cosmology as “a form of philosophical realism in which a set of entities and objects are claimed to have an independent and knowable existence, an obvious example of these entities being ancestors” (Drahos 2014, p. 32). Bhathal explains that in this Indigenous ‘philosophy’ as Drahos phrased it, or alternatively, an understanding of the universe, with specific reference to Aboriginal Peoples of Australia and Torres Strait Islanders, “all life—human, animal, bird or fish—is part of an ever-transforming system that can be traced back to the Spirit Ancestors who go about the Earth in an eternal time called the Dreaming” (Bhathal 2006, n 28) and all that is seen on Earth and in the Sky, was made by the work of ancestors to inform and maintain a connection with future generations of their Indigenous Peoples. This is not to imply that the concept of Dreaming is true for all Indigenous Peoples, but rather to illustrate that Indigenous astronomical practices, while in practice similar to the observation of the sky by modern astronomers, are distinct because these practices are underpinned by an understanding of the Earth, cosmos and respective peoples contained therein in relation to a peoples’ Indigenous knowledge. For example, Cajete, speaking to Native American astronomies, highlights that “Native astronomies helped to make sense of life and relationships and reaffirm the belief in the interrelationship and interdependence of all things in an animate and living universe” (Cajete 2000, p. 216), which helps to explain how Indigenous astronomy and associated Indigenous knowledge is linked to Indigenous cosmologies and understandings of the universe and of its people, past and present.

Indigenous astronomy practices developed as Indigenous Peoples “observed the natural processes and interrelationships of all things over millennia” (Maryboy 2020, p. 14). These practices have come to constitute a part of the “rich and complex ways of knowing and ways of being and living in this universe” (Maryboy 2020, p. 14) that make up Indigenous knowledge. This Indigenous astronomical knowledge has also evolved “from their lived experience in their distinct places, in spiritual relationships with land and life, and from traditions that change but are millennial” (Million 2013, p. 13); an evolution that is now threatened by the obstruction of the views of the night sky by satellite mega-constellations and with this occupation of orbits with humanmade machines, there is also the threat of encroachment of colonisation into a sacred space for Indigenous Peoples.

While much Indigenous knowledge of astronomy and the sky is passed through oral tradition within Indigenous communities and thus, remains protected, there is a growing awareness of some of the significance of astronomy to various Indigenous Peoples, often due to the work and dissemination of Indigenous scholars themselves, as well as researchers of Indigenous Peoples. Thus, provided below is a brief overview of just some of the known significances of astronomy to a few of many Indigenous Peoples.