Will Starlink deface the night sky? There is some discussion (and there are some questions on this site) about the impact of Starlink on observational astronomy. I am not an astronomer, but I am amazed by the beauty an immensity of the night sky.
Must I be concerned, from an aesthetical point of view, that Starlink will change the night sky that I and countless people before me have admired? For example, will there be less stars visible to the naked eye, or will the night sky be defaced by a myriad of artificial light sources?
For background: Starlink is a commercial project by SpaceX, a private company, that seeks to launch thousands of small satellites into the earth's orbit.
Satellites just add moving lights to the sky, they do not obscure stars. However, some may find that disrupting their view of what a sky should look like.
The visual magnitude of starlink satellites is about 5.92 at zenith, and usually darker (but also sometimes brighter). The new darker satellites are about 0.77 magnitudes fainter. This is in the lower range for naked eye vision under good conditions.
Light pollution is likely to make the satellites invisible to most people, since they already cannot see much of the sky. You need to be outside suburban skies on the Bortle scale to be able to notice them. So if you are concerned with the aesthetics of the sky, city light pollution is a far, far greater problem.