Simulation of all current satellites from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory’s viewpoint

This simulation shows what the Vera C. Rubin Observatory (formerly the LSST) would see if it were operational with the current (as of mid-August, 2020) set of satellites in orbit around Earth. The simulation is for the night of August 16, during southern hemisphere winter: when nights are longest. Note that the early and late parts of the night, when the Sun is close to the horizon, results in a very large number of illuminated satellites that will saturate the detectors and cause a large amount of “lost s